Has Marina Beach now become Chennai’s Jallianwala Bagh?

By Aishwarya Chaurasia

The majestic Marina Beach in Chennai, which usually witnesses a huge throng of visitors throng its banks, looked awfully dull and deserted as the city police cordoned off the area after 50-odd youngsters were caught holding hands and sloganeering against the central government. The protestors, who were eventually arrested and taken in police jeeps, were demanding the formation of the Cauvery Management Board (CMB), as was ordered by the Supreme Court in its February 16 judgment on the Cauvery water dispute.

Following the protest, the police not only restricted entry into the beach but also stopped vehicles from entering the service lane of the Kamarajar Salai, frisking any pedestrians who were allowed in. Five CCTV cameras and makeshift watchtowers were also erected to keep a close watch on the protestors. The photos and videos shared on social media were enough to force the police to question even the early morning walkers in that area. The police said that there are designated areas where one can hold protests, after seeking due permission from the authority, and if this is not followed, arrests would take place.

Tug of war over Cauvery

The Supreme Court, on February 16, delivered a verdict on the Cauvery water sharing dispute, reducing Tamil Nadu’s water supply by 14.75tmc ft. The court also directed the state to frame a scheme and implement this declaration within six weeks. The setting up of CMB was always a bone of contention between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Tamil Nadu has been pressurising the Indian government to set up the board to ensure that there is a neutral body to decide on the matter, given that the Karnataka government has not complied with decisions in the past. Since the deadline of March 29 was not honoured, the Tamil Nadu government launched a contempt of court petition against union cabinet secretary P.K. Sinha and water resources secretary U.P. Singh.

After the recent protests, one could almost be forgiven for categorising Marina Beach as the Jallianwala Bagh of Chennai—a symbol of revolution, agitation, and rebellion. The pro-Jallikattu protest last year, where thousands of protestors swamped the Marina Beach and demanded the ban on Jallikattu be lifted, started as a small gathering and ended up an open protest, with people spending their nights and days at the venue for nearly seven days.

The protest was covered on national television, print media, and even on international news channels. The Jallikattu rebellion was successful in convincing the union government to allow the bull-taming sport to continue despite the demands of animal rights activists.

After the recent protests, one could almost be forgiven for categorising Marina Beach as the modern-day Jallianwala Bagh of Chennai—a symbol of revolution, agitation, and rebellion. Credit: Flickr Commons

Mobbing at Marina

There is, however, one glaring difference between protests in January last year, and the one that took place this Saturday. The Jallikattu protests were allowed to go on for days on end because the state government wanted the Centre to know that Tamil Nadu would not cave. This time, the protests are unlikely to work in the Edappadi K. Palaniswami government’s favour. The agitation, if allowed to continue, could lead to more in-fighting within the Tamil Nadu government. It may also lead to critics eventually swarming in, placing the stability of the government in a dangerous position. Given how easy it is to mobilise a massive crowd via social media, the ongoing unrest does not bode well for public safety.

So far, the Tamil Nadu government’s efforts in getting the Centre to set up the CMB have not been successful. This could be enough to provoke the people of Tamil Nadu. As the deadline to set up the CMB expired, following which, political parties and activists started showing signs of protests.

The government failed to use its 37 Lok Sabha MPs, instead offering to move a no-confidence motion over the issue only if Congress chose to support it. The government can very easily cite that it did file a contempt of court plea against the two government officials, but the Centre has already filed a petition asking for a time extension of three months, in consideration of Karnataka’s upcoming elections.

The AIADMK held another protest, with members of the party and supporters sitting on a day-long fast on April 3. But people are unlikely to make much of this fast, with many remembering party supremo J. Jayalalithaa’s 80-hour fast at the Marina Beach in 1993 to sway the P.V. Narasimha Rao government.

But the current AIADMK government seems to be going down a different path. The question of the hour is this: with such intimidating policing, will the strategy work?