India: Thousands of protestors detained while laying siege to Tamil Nadu assembly

#Koodankulam By Tariq Abdul Muhaimin, Kracktivist,  10/29/12  NEWZFIRST

CHENNAI, TN – Thousands of protestors including leaders of different political parties were detained by the police on Monday, when they were en route to lay siege outside the Tamil Nadu assembly demanding the closure of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNP).

More than 5000 protesters from across the state had gathered at Egmore, Chennai and started moving towards the assembly to lay siege to it until the KKNP is not shut down completely.

“We do not have permission for the rally or the protest; however we will march towards the assembly. The police is ready to arrest us when we reach there, but this will not stop us,” said Rajkumar, an activist from Tamils Cultural Centre, while speaking to Newzfirst before the rally began.

Amidst intense police deployment, the protesters including several political party leaders, Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and two Members of Parliament (MP) started their march towards the TN assembly at around 1:15 PM, where thousands of police personnel were waiting to stop the protestors and detain them.

MP Thirumavalavan of VCK, MP Ganesha Murthi of MDMK, MLA Jawahirullah of MMK and MLA Velmurugan of TVK were among the protestors. They have been detained and taken to different convention halls across the city.

“Since there are several thousand protestors, they are being taken to different convention centres across Chennai in 20 buses which were already waiting near the assembly,” said Rajkumar.

According to several reports, the police had also detained several protestors across the state on Sunday evening and sent back many more who were en route to Chennai with the intention of joining the protest.