Citizenship bill / Chidambaram, Stalin among 8,000 booked for anti-CAA rally in Chennai

Chennai: A day after Tamil Nadu’s major Opposition party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its allies held a massive rally against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Chennai Police on Tuesday slapped cases against DMK president MK Stalin, former Union minister P Chidambaram, Rajya Sabha MP Vaiko, Lok Sabha MP Thol Thirumavalavan and thousands of people who took part in the rally.

According to police, the cases were filed against 8,000 people for staging the rally despite the fact that no permission was given.

“When the DMK approached the city police for permission, we replied to them whether they are ready to take responsibility if any violence breaks out in the rally. However, the DMK did not reply to our notice. So, the Chennai Police denied permission. However, DMK, Congress, CPI, CPI(M), MDMK, VCK, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK) and other outfits have taken part in the rally from Egmore Thalamuthu Natarajan Government Bungalow to Government Rajarathnam Stadium. So, the cases have been registered against the illegal rally,” said a top source with Chennai Police.

The cop further added the cases have been filed under three sections for unlawful assembly, and conducting rally without permission.

When HT contacted DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi, he said that they had not received any communication from the police till afternoon on Tuesday.

“If there is any such development, our leader Stalin will say about the further course of action,” Bharathi said.

Senior journalist and Indian People Association chairman Varahi had filed a petition in the Madras High Court against the rally on Sunday evening seeking an emergency hearing. The high court judges heard the matter late in the night and passed an interim order following the arguments by the petitioner and police. In a temporary order, the judge directed the police to record the illegal rallies by drone cameras.

As per the court’s order, Chennai Police used drone cameras to monitor the movement of the rally. The court has also sought a report from the Police Commissioner within eight weeks about the petition of Varahi. However, the DMK went ahead and conducted the rally on Monday. “We will not worry about the hurdles, as we planned our rally would take place in Chennai,” Stalin said on Sunday night.

Subsequently, he led the rally with all the participants on Monday.