The Hindu : Stalin threatened watchman, incited students: CM

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 11, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Stalin threatened watchman, incited students: CM

By Our Special Correspondent

Chennai April 10. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, today declared that the five jailed DMK MLAs, including M. K. Stalin, on Tuesday, unlawfully trespassed into the Queen Mary's Women's College here, pushed aside a watchman, threatened him with dire consequences, incited students into agitation and ``disrupted'' their preparations for examinations.

An unperturbed Ms. Jayalalithaa, who came into the Assembly after the mass eviction of protesting Opposition MLAs, presented a suo motu statement, under Rule 110 of the Assembly rules, on the mid-night arrest of Mr. Stalin, K. Ponmudi, J. Anbazhagan, S. A. M. Hussain and E. Velu.

Detailing the sequence of events leading up to the dramatic arrest, the Chief Minister recalled her April 4 announcement in the House of the Government's plans to demolish the dilapidated QMC and build a Secretariat complex there and to provide a modern college for the QMC students on the neighbouring Lady Willingdon College campus within a year. Though the Government drew up plans to ensure that no inconvenience was caused to the students, some political parties, attempting to derive political mileage, gave wrong information and incited a section of the students.

The protest by a section of the students, despite the explanation given by the Government, threatened to disrupt law and order. Hence, the Higher Education department ordered closure of the college, in the interest of the students, who had to prepare for the fast approaching examinations. However, as a section of the students continued to stay on in the college and protest, adequate security was provided to the institution.

Meanwhile, on April 8, Mr. Stalin, along with the four other MLAs, visited the college, shoved aside the watchman, threatened to eliminate him and trespassed into the campus. They gathered the hostellers, who were quietly preparing for the examinations and incited them to continue their protest without fear, thereby ``distracting the attention of the students and disrupting their studies''.

On the basis of a complaint from the principal, the D-5 Marina station police registered a case and arrested the five MLAs last night.

Then, the Speaker, K. Kalimuthu, read out the police communique to him on the arrest of the five MLAs in Chennai, and of the Tiruvannamalai MLA, T. Pitchandi, at 3 a.m. today.

Later, towards the end of the day's proceedings, the Chief Minister informed the House that she had ordered the release of 43 Opposition MLAs, who were arrested for staging a dharna outside the Secretariat complex earlier in the day. Ms. Jayalalithaa also said she asked the police to allow the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, to visit the detained MLAs kept at the North Beach police station and ``safely'' leave him in his house, in case he resorted to a dharna outside the station. However, the former Chief Minister resorted to no such ``adventure'' and he returned to Anna Arivalayam (DMK headquarters) after ``posing with the arrested MLAs for photographs'', she said.

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