Even as the organisers of the ‘Eelam Tamil Rights Protection Conference’ continued their efforts on Saturday to ensure that the meeting was held here on Sunday as scheduled, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi announced that it would take place at the party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, if the bar was not lifted by the police.
In the early hours of Saturday, the organisers were formally denied permission by the Chennai Police. Even as they moved the Madras High Court challenging the decision, the Ministry of External Affairs clarified that it had no objection to the use of the term ‘Eelam’ in the title of the conference, superseding its earlier objection.
After hearing the arguments for some time on a petition filed by the organisers, Justice N. Paul Vasanthakumar said it was for a Division Bench to hear the case as the matter was still pending before it. The case will be taken up at a special sitting on Sunday.
In a statement issued later in the day, Mr. Karunanidhi said that as part of the meeting, a seminar would be held at a hotel at 10 a.m. on Sunday to finalise the resolutions to be adopted at the conference.
Referring to the steps being taken through the court to overcome the hurdles placed by the police, he said that if the bar was not lifted by evening, the meeting would take place at Kalaignar Arangam of Anna Arivalayam at 4 p.m.
He said the contents of the resolutions would be disseminated through public meetings to be held all over Tamil Nadu from August 20 to 30.
