Coimbatore: More than 300 members of various opposition parties were detained on Wednesday as protests raged in the city for the third consecutive day over the central government’s failure to constitute the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) within the six-week deadline set by the Supreme Court on February 16.
The day saw around 100 DMK members, led by party MLA N Karthik, picketing the BSNL office at Singanallur area. As it affected the functioning of the office, police detained and removed the protesters.
DMK youth wing members, led by its coordinator Kottai Abbas, meanwhile, staged a novel protest near Sivalaya Junction at Selvapuram. While some of them had artificial rats in their mouths, some wore garlands made of artificial human bones. Police detained 17 of them for staging demonstration without obtaining prior permission.
DMK women’s wing secretary Meena Logu also led a protest near the BSNL office at Ganapathy, while the party’s ward 59 secretary P T Murugaesan spearheaded a road roko on Avinashi Road. In both the cases, police detained and removed the protesters.
In another instance, CPI cadres, led by former Valparai MLA M Arumugam, attempted to stage a rail roko at the city railway junction. However, police foiled their bid by detaining 163 of them.
All the detained protesters were let off in the evening.
Extending support to the on-going struggle, Coimbatore Bar Association (CBA) on Wednesday decided to boycott the court proceedings until April 7. More than 70 advocates, headed by CBA president R Balakirshnan, also took to the streets, raising slogans against the Centre, and picketed the BSNL office at Gopalapuram.
The day also witnessed an all-party meeting at the DMK office in Coimbatore North. Chaired by MLA Karthik and the party district coordinator M Muthusamy, the meeting was attended by MDMK, Congress, CPI and CPM leaders. At the meeting, the opposition parties have successfully sought various trade unions’ support in the fight against the Centre for the welfare of Cauvery delta region farmers.
