Students adamant despite requests to call off protest

COIMBATORE: Minutes after Hip Hop ‘Tamizha’ Aadhi mentioned about “anti-social elements” trying to creep into the protest arena and former managing trustee of Senapathy Kangayam Cattle Research Foundation Karthikeya Sivasenapathy requesting students to withdraw the protest from now till March 31 at a press meet in Chennai on Friday night, the defiant student protesters at VOC Park said they will continue with their protest.
“We do not want anyone to be affected by this protest. So we request all the NGOs and the general public to leave if they are uncomfortable. Those who gave press meet in Chennai are only working for preserving native cow breeds. We are working for the cow breeds, farmers and for Tamil culture. We will continue our protest but we will ensure all the fringe elements and political party cadres are driven away from the protest site. Even the public will be requested to leave if they face discomfort. But we students will continue to protest,” said a student at the protest site.
The youngsters said they will not leave the spot until the central government amends the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. “We are very clear in our demands. We want the act amended by the central government and are hopeful it will be done very soon. We will stop the protest only then,” said Kawaskar, a businessman.
G Deepa, a resident of Kumarapalayam and a homemaker, came to the protest with her daughter. She said she had heard about the appeal made by Karthikeyan Sivasenapathy. “I can understand their fears but I completely trust the students. There are some external elements but the students are extremely well-behaved and we will support them,” she said.
With similar sentiments, S B Selva, a goldsmith from Gandhi Park, said he will also continue to come. “If we are busy with work in the morning, we will come and stay here at night. But we will not stop supporting or coming to the protest,” he said. Other youngsters said that they are constantly telling people not to indulge in any activity other than seeking amendment in the act.
M Jeevaprasad, a third year student, said they were aware of some people who were misleading the crowd and indulging in distributing pamphlets. “We are continuously appealing to the people gathered here to sit down and protest peacefully. We are telling them not even to clap or whistle. We tell them to just raise their hands. We are trying our best to ensure that anti-social elements do not sabotage our protest,” he said.
Selvavinayagam, another student said, they were in touch with protesters in Chennai, Trichy, Madurai, Alanganallur and other districts. “We will not stop our protest until a permanent solutions is worked out. We will continue to come out,” he said.
By Sunday evening, more than 50,000 people gathered at VOC Park to show their solidarity. Most of them were aware of the appeals made by Karthikeyan Sivasenapathy. But they said they would continue to support the cause and protest until amendment of the act was done.