Friday, April, 13, 2018
  • Nation
  • World
  • States
  • Cities
  • Business
  • Sport
    • IPL
    • Commonwealth Games 2018
  • Entertainment
  • Galleries
  • Videos
  • Life Style
  • Specials
  • Opinions
  • All Sections  
    States Tamil Nadu Kerala Karnataka Andhra Pradesh Telangana Odisha
    Cities Chennai DelhiBengaluru Hyderabad Kochi Thiruvananthapuram
    Nation World Business Sport Cricket Football Tennis Other Education
    Entertainment English Hindi Kannada Malayalam Tamil Telugu Review Galleries Videos
    Auto Life style Tech Health Travel Food Books Spirituality
    Opinions Editorials Ask Prabhu Columns Prabhu Chawla T J S George S Gurumurthy Ravi Shankar Shankkar Aiyar Shampa Dhar-Kamath Karamatullah K Ghori
    Today's Paper Edex Indulge Event Xpress Magazine The Sunday Standard E-paper
Home Cities Chennai

Black flag demos against Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit

By Express News Service  |   Published: 13th April 2018 05:40 AM  |  

Last Updated: 13th April 2018 05:40 AM  |   A+A A-   |  

0

Share Via Email

DMK MP Kanimozhi leading a stir against Modi’s visit in Saidapet on Thursday | Martin Louis

CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have avoided the sight of black flags while heli-hopping across Chennai on Thursday but with #GoBackModi trending on social media, the message may have been hard to miss. On the ground, the opposition to the visit, as part of the Cauvery protests, was complete. On Thursday, opposition parties and others carried out black flag protests across the state, with as many as 3,080, including DMK’s Kanimozhi and MDMK’s Vaiko, being arrested in Chennai alone. Chennai protestors released black balloons in the air while members of a fringe outfit climbed an advertisement hoarding across from the Chennai airport and waved black flags.

On a day when DMK working president M K Stalin refused to accept Sirkazhi Police’s summons and continued his Cauvery Rights Retrieval March from Vaitheeswarankoil in Nagapattinam to Cuddalore, clad in black shirt as part of the black flag stir against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his party colleagues in Chennai spilled onto the streets and arterial roads. They registered opposition in a resounding manner by waving black flags, blocking roads, taking out processions and setting balloons in the air.

Protesters carrying black flags and balloons at Saidapet,
against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to
Chennai on Thursday | Martin Louis

With a view to avoiding the protesters, who had threatened to welcome him with black flags, Prime Minister Narendra Modi preferred an aerial route to reach the two venues, Thiruvidanthai and Cancer Institute in Adyar here. Protesters too took the aerial route to register their opposition to Prime Minister’s visit by setting thousands of balloons in the air with slogans of ‘Go back Modi’.

Stalin’s sister and DMK women’s wing leader Kanimozhi led the partymen at Saidapet in waving black flags at Modi. Amid sloganeering and waving of black flags by cadre clad in black, Kanimozhi led a procession before breaching the barricades near Kalaignar Arch in Saidapet, to keep moving towards the Cancer Institute where Modi was to address an event. Police, deployed in large numbers, detained her along with party many MLAs.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi should realise the sentiments of the Tamil people and proceed further to ensure setting up of the Cauvery Management Board,” she said, before courting arrest.
At Guindy, the DMK cadre staged a spirited protest as a volley of leaders led by MLAs M Subramanian and P K Sekar Babu tried to move towards the venue of Modi’s function to show him black flags and were subsequently detained. Another MLA ‘Madhavaram’ S Sudarsanam led the ‘Go Back Modi’ protest near the Saidapet court before courting arrest. Earlier, several DMK men led by former minister T M Anbarasan attempted to lay a siege to the airport as soon as Modi landed. 

DMK’s Chennai South district secretary and former city mayor M Subramanian used the strategy of using balloons deftly as he set a big one marked with the slogan of ‘Go back Modi’, from the terrace of his residence at Saidapet. Later, thousands of black balloons were also let off when he led black flag protest at Guindy.

Scores of DMK cadre holding balloons took out a short rally in Saidapet. In other places too, they flew black balloons. Other organisations too adopted a similar strategy of setting off balloons.
In Chennai and its suburbs alone, 3080 people, including 353 women, were arrested for protests on roads. Besides, police estimated around 3,340 people protesting  across the city, but were not arrested. 


Karunanidhi too in black attire  
Despite being confined indoors at his Gopalapuram residence, DMK president and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi joined the ‘Go back Modi’ stir by wearing black dress on Thursday. A video showing him clad in black dress was circulated by the party that caught attention of the social networking groups. This apart, black flags were hoisted at Karunanidhi’s Gopalapuram residence and at the party headquarters, Anna Arivalayam. Similar flags were also hoisted at residences of DMK leader M K Stalin at Chittaranjan Salai and Kanimozhi at CIT Colony.

Five-year-old cynosure of eyes
Nila, a five-year-old child seen holding a black flag along with her mother, caught the attention of the protesters at Saidapet. Her mother had taken her along with their relatives to the protest venue to be part of the agitation against Modi for the delay in forming the CMB and CWRC.

Stay up to date on all the latest Chennai news with The New Indian Express App. Download now
TAGS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Black flag GoBackModi

O
P
E
N

More from this section

DefExpo 2018: Bulletproof vehicle for anti-terror operations

Make-in-India Boeing deal on Super Hornets with HAL, Mahindra

Race hots up, Boeing announces tie-ups 

CWG2018

Latest

Pakistan SC disqualifies Nawaz Sharif for life

Shooter Tejaswini Sawant wins CWG gold

Cauvery row: MDMK chief Vaiko's kin attempts self-immolation

CWG 2018: Shooter Anish Bhanwala wins gold

Boxers Amit Panghal, Gaurav Solanki, Manish Kaushik enter CWG finals

J-K: Security heightened in Srinagar to prevent Separatist protests

Four killed as fire breaks out in a building in Delhi

Left Front-sponsored bandh begins in West Bengal

IPL2018
Videos
Amid vandalism row, BR Ambedkar's statue now locked in iron cage in Uttar Pradesh
Andhra special status row: Centre can’t dictate how state should operate, says AP IT Minister Nara Lokesh
arrow
Gallery
The wrestling gold rush began as expected and the shooting ranges also threw up medals before a couple of track-and-field podium finishes provided a near perfect end to what was a high-yielding day for India at the 21st Commonwealth Games. IN PIC: Two-time Olympic medallist and veteran Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar defeated South Africa's Johannes Botha to clinch gold in men's wrestling 74kg category. (Photo | PTI)
Medals galore as wrestlers join the party for India at Commonwealth Games 2018
Manchester City's Bernardo Silva, left, competes for the ball with Liverpool's Andrew Robertson during the Champions League quarterfinal second leg match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England. (AP)
Mohamed Salah strikes as Liverpool beats Manchester City to book Champions League semifinal berth
arrow

Trending

FOLLOW US

Copyright - newindianexpress.com 2018

Dinamani | Kannada Prabha | Samakalika Malayalam | Malayalam Vaarika | Indulgexpress | Edex Live | Cinema Express | Event Xpress

Contact Us | About Us | Careers | Privacy Policy | Search | Terms of Use | Advertise With Us

Home | Nation | World | Cities | Business | Columns | Entertainment | Sport | Magazine | The Sunday Standard