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Chennai, Dec. 7: Businesses run by Malayalis were attacked in Tamil Nadu today, a day after trucks from the state were burnt in Kerala and Sabarimala devotees complained of their vehicles being stoned amid tensions over the Mullaperiyar dam row.
Suspected members of the Tamil Nationalist Party, a fringe group, attacked a sweet shop in Chennai, and a coffee shop and two jewellery showrooms in Thanjavur.
Ironically, it was a Tamil worker, Muthu, in the sweet shop in Chennai’s Saidapet who suffered head injuries in the attack by a group of seven who had come with sticks and broke the glass counters. The Malayali owner wasn’t in the outlet at the time.
“The gang shouted slogans against Malayalis and the agitation against the Mullaperiyar Dam as they ransacked our shop,” police quoted Muthu as saying. Four of the attackers were arrested this evening.
In Thanjavur, 300km away, alleged members of the same outfit threw stones at the coffee shop and the jewellery showrooms. An office of the Kerala-based Muthoot Finance was stoned.
The group sped away on motorcycles but the police said they knew the identity of the arsonists.
Kerala claims the dam is weak and wants it replaced with a new structure to avoid flooding of the nearby areas. Tamil Nadu, which has rights to the waters, opposes the plan.
The attacks came despite an appeal by chief minister Jayalalithaa last night urging political parties not to vitiate the atmosphere after alleged incidents of Tamils and their cars being targeted in Kerala. She even urged the people of Kerala not to become victims of false propaganda and cited the centuries-old tradition of living in harmony.
A top police officer described today’s incidents as attention-seeking attempts by a fringe group and appealed to leaders to desist from acts that could invite a backlash against the hundreds of devotees from Tamil Nadu in Kerala.
“We have informally urged leaders of various groups not to do anything that could make Tamils, especially Sabarimala devotees, become hapless victims of mob fury in Kerala,” the officer said.
Instructions had been given to district police chiefs to crack down on anyone targeting Malayalis or their properties, the officer added.
But the messages appeared to have been lost on some. PMK president G.K. Mani tried to organise a march in Cumbum town, near the Kerala border, before being arrested for violating prohibitory orders. His leader S. Ramadoss urged the Jayalalithaa government to clamp an economic siege on Kerala by stopping food supplies. He also wanted a ban on purchase of property by Malayalis in Tamil Nadu.
MDMK leader Vaiko started a march to the dam from Madurai but there were indications he could be stopped midway. Seeman, the leader of Naam Thamizhar (We Tamils) warned of retaliation if Tamils continued to be targeted in Kerala.
With passions high on both sides, vehicles didn’t move through Theni, a border district in southwest Tamil Nadu, for the second day today. But traffic was normal at other three major border crossing between the states.
Shops in the border town of Cumbum remained closed for the second day to protest yesterday’s attacks in Kerala. Stranded Sabarimala devotees were given food packets by the district authorities.
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