On Friday, the Chennai City police stopped the management of YMCA, Nandanam, from letting out the grounds for a five-day farmers’ conference due to begin in the morning. This left over 600 farmers, who landed in the city from various parts of the State, stranded.
With more farmers expected to arrive on Saturday, the city police are bracing for a massive protest on the lines of the pro-jallikattu movement on the sands of Marina.
Chandramohan (Rowthran), organiser of Uzhave Thalai , said that he and a friend had gone around the State two months ago to study the agrarian crisis.
“Following this, we decided to bring farmers to Chennai, both to educate them about their rights and to educate people in the city about the crisis,” he said.
The YMCA grounds had been fixed for the conference, which was supposed to be attended by agricultural scientists, organic farming experts and water management experts, among others.
‘Threatened, insulted’
“The management had originally agreed. Late on Thursday night, I got a call from them; they said the government was not allowing the conference and that the police had closed the gates. When farmers and youngsters started arriving at YMCA from 6 a.m. on Friday, they were threatened, insulted and made to leave,” he claimed.
Mr. Chandramohan alleged that the police had blocked other venues too. “We even tried a marriage hall but they said that if it was for farmers, they would not be able to give it,” he said.
The organisers approached the Police Commissioner’s office but to no avail.
According to official sources, the State government had given clear instructions to the city police not to allow any sort of protests in the city that could have a cascading effect on the law and order situation.
