India: Protesting farmers detained en route to __�prayer meet___
Event- Country
- India
- Initial Date
- Aug 19, 2018
- Event Description
Groups of farmers heading to a "joint prayer agitation' against the proposed eight-lane Salem-Chennai Expressway project were detained by the police in Harur and Paapireddypatty in Dharmapuri, Uthangarai in Krishnagiri and Chengam in Tiruvannamalai districts on Sunday. In Uthangarai, a joint team of police from Singarapettai and Tiruvannamalai entered the premises of Arul, a farmer of Athipady, past midnight and detained a few farmers. Mr. Arul shared a video clip, in which the police were seen taunting his family members using vulgar language while asking them to open the door, while his brother was heard asking for a warrant and questioning the need for the police to barge into the compound at such a late hour. "They arrested my uncle Selvaraj, who had come to our compound to check what the commotion was about," he alleged. When The Hindu contacted Chinnasamy, Inspector of the Singarapettai police station, who was seen in the video clip, he said, "There is a group mobilising against the eight-lane project and creating trouble. We only went to inquire about that." "We did not arrest anyone. The Tiruvannamalai police would know," he added. In Paapireddypatty, Chandra Mohan, the farmer leading the protests in Dharmapuri, was detained along with 20 others while boarding a private bus to take part in the joint prayer agitation. "The Harur DSP asked us to come to the police station to sign a paper, and said we would be let off," said Chandra Mohan. He alleged that the farmers were taken to the A. Pallipatty police station, where they were made to sign a statement saying they were going to a temple and not to take part in any agitation. But the farmers were detained till late afternoon. While they were released subsequently, the bus driver, along with the vehicle, was detained at the station. Harur DSP A.C. Sellapandian said, "We had[received] intelligence[inputs] that the farmers were planning to "educate'[fellow] farmers in Tiruvannamalai against the eight-lane project. It was preventive detention under Section 151 of the CrPC." When asked whether such preventive detentions went against the Madras High Court's advice to the police to refrain from using force against farmers opposing the Salem-Chennai green corridor, he said, "We did not stop them. We only detained them, and they are free to go now." The police had also detained bike-borne farmers bound for Tiruvannamalai. In Chengam, 11 farmers were detained. In Harur and Paapireddypatty, taxi/auto drivers and private travel operators were warned by the police not to provide conveyance to anyone headed for events relating to the road project, alleged Mr. Chandra Mohan.
- Impact of Event
- 20
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 20.593684
Longitude: 78.96288
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On August 19 2018, groups of farmers heading to a __�joint prayer agitation' against the proposed eight-lane Salem-Chennai Expressway project were detained by the police in Harur and Paapireddypatty in Dharmapuri, Uthangarai in Krishnagiri and Chengam in Tiruvannamalai districts.