Police image takes a beating

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JUNE 30. The arrest of the DMK leader, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, and his son, the Chennai Mayor, Mr. M. K. Stalin, was very much on the cards. But the way the septuagenarian politician and four-time Chief Minister was taken into custody in the small hours of today outraged the people.

With Sun TV beaming the scene throughout the day, the revulsion among the people was much more pronounced. The method of arrest has evoked a strong protest among not only political leaders but also human rights groups and the people.

Had the arrest been effected smoothly and after daybreak, it might not have provoked such vehement protests. Why did the police party, which went to the Oliver Road residence here of Mr. Karunanidhi, behave the way it did?

DMK sources argued that the police were ``only carrying out instructions'' from the political leadership, without showing even the basic respect to the age and the status of the leader. But police sources insisted that it was the ``resistance'' offered by the former Chief Minister and his family members which led to the ruckus at dead of night.

The DIG, CB-CID, Mr. A. P. Mohamed Ali, is reported to have lodged a complaint that the Union Commerce Minister, Mr. Murasoli Maran, punched him. He was treated as an out-patient in hospital.

Whatever the political repurcussions of the arrest, the image of the Tamil Nadu police took a beating today both because of the manner in which Mr. Karunanidhi was taken into custody and the repeated lathicharge on DMK sympathisers and the public who gathered at the strategic locations - the DMK headquarters, the judge's residence, the Central prison and elsewhere in the State.

Just as the images of the assault on the AIADMK leader, Ms. Jayalalithaa, in the State legislature in 1989 remained etched in the memory of the people for long, today's scenes will linger and trouble the minds of many.

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Section  : Southern States
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