Thursday, May 29, 2003
Thursday, May 29, 2003 |
| Southern States | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Southern States
-
Tamil Nadu-Chennai
By K.Manikandan
Mr. Santhanam was recovering today after surgery. Even as police seem to have a clue to the motive behind the attack, his associates in the party and various residents' associations have started contemplating on the next step to be taken. The CPI (M) members have convened a meeting of all political parties, including the ruling AIADMK, traders and shopowners at Pallavaram and Chromepet areas to find ways and means to permanently root out the menace of violence and the rule by mafia. They also plan to arrange to bear a part of the expenses incurred for the treatment of Mr. Santhanam. His associates also recall earlier instances, the most recent being the murder of Murugesan, a tannery owner of Chromepet, who voiced his protest against collection of `mamool' in the area by rowdies and anti-social elements. And prior to that Ethiraj, a businessman was brutally murdered in the same area for organising protest to highlight the atrocities perpetrated by organised rowdy groups. "All this means just one thing. Vested interests want to make sure that nobody raises voice against atrocities by lawless gangs", said a party colleague of Mr. Santhanam. Nevertheless, they would continue in their efforts to highlight the illegal activities, they added. They also pointed out that even the murder case of Murugesan was not completely solved and that the surrender of the accused persons did not seem to be convincing. The status of the case relating to the incident of arson at West Velachery, where the two-wheeler of Ramaswamy, a member of the West Velachery Exnora Association, was burnt, was still vague, civic activists pointed out. Mr. Ramaswamy, despite his age and lack of clout, teamed up with a few other people of his age and decided to encourage a new cable operator as the existing one was holding them to ransom and resorting to arm twisting tactics. In many areas, the cable operators were terrorising residents, arbitrarily cutting off connections, and threatening residents that they would lodge complaints against them with police merely to harass them. What was shocking was the readiness of many policemen to join hands with the cable operators, to threaten residents. There are some other instances of office-bearers of residents' association being subject to attacks and other forms of violence, ranging from intimidation to lethal attacks over other local issues. Members of civic associations in other areas were of the opinion that organised gangs and mafia seemed to be gaining an edge over peaceful citizens fighting for their rights and striving to protect natural resources, mostly tanks and lakes. While civic association members mostly strive to get their basic amenities, they rarely lock horns with vested interests with muscle power to back them. But there are also others, like Mr. Santhanam who dared to take on the might of certain powers, well aware of their clout and not bothering the consequences and what extreme measures they could resort to settle their personal scores. While for some civic activists the incident seemed be unsettling, some others resolved to make the attack a rallying point in the fight against goondaism, and criminal-politician-police nexus.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
