For the third consecutive year, Tamil Nadu tops the list with regard to offences against the State. NCRB statistics reveal that the State registered 1,827 cases in 2016 and Uttar Pradesh took the second place with 1,414 cases. A majority of the cases in the State pertained to offences punishable under the Tamil Nadu Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act, 1992, or the PPDL Act, as it is popularly known as. Interestingly, there was not a single case of sedition though there were eight offences registered under the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
While senior police officials wondered whether incidents booked under the PPDL Act could be termed as an offence against the State, a few others associated with law-enforcing agencies point out that Tamil Nadu had a history of violent protests right from the anti-Hindi agitation days. Even the recent protests against the ban on jallikattu witnessed violent scenes across the State.
“An act causing damage to a private bus can be booked under the PPDL Act in Tamil Nadu, unlike in other States. Even minor incidents such as damage to a glass pane in an office building or breaking a bulb in a lamp post during an agitation are booked under the Act. Whether such incidents can be termed as an offence against the State is debatable,” he said.
Former DGP and Mylapore MLA R. Nataraj said Tamil Nadu was ahead of others in the number of public agitations. “Considering the number of permissions police give for public agitations, the fact that the State has reported the highest number of offences under the PPDL Act is not surprising,” he said.
Asked if the tendency to target public property was higher among protesters in Tamil Nadu, another police official recalled incidents in the past, such as the Cauvery agitation in the early 1990s and a series of caste conflicts in the southern districts when trains and buses were attacked. Of late, information, particularly rumours, spread like wildfire in the social media, often triggering protests. “We saw this happening during and after the war in Sri Lanka and jallikattu protests. The pan-Tamil culture that seems to be running high adds to tension,” he said.