Chennai Cops Counter Jallikattu Violence Charges With New Video

“I’m Tamilian too,” police personnel say in this video. Will their PR exercise work?

The Chennai Police has kickstarted a social media-intensive campaign to counter the controversial videos that had emerged of policemen engaging in violence during the Jallikattu protests in Tamil Nadu.

In a video, titled ‘Ivanum Tamilan Than’ (He’s also a Tamilian) – which is doing the rounds on Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp – the police can be seen making an emotional appeal to the people of the state.

Also Read: Jallikattu: Chennai Hamlet Alleges Police Burnt Their Fish Market

The visuals in the video appear to be carefully chosen: a policeman with a head injury, a crowd attacking a police vehicle with logs, a mob confronting a handful of policemen, and so on.

The visuals play to the tune of ‘Malarodu Malar’ - a song from the film ‘Bombay’.

Watch excerpts of the video here:

The police are “motherly” figures, one frame reminds viewers, while another says that protesters may pelt stones, but the police cannot reciprocate. The video shows various wounded police personnel. “I am a Tamilian too,” one frame reads; “Was it right to break the hands of those who served us by standing with their hands folded for six days?” another frame asks.

The last few lines of the video translate loosely into: “He is the god of the border who protects us by putting up with all this.”

In one of the videos with News 18, the visuals show a policeman throwing a burning bundle into an auto. The video was shared on social media by a number of people, including Kamal Hassan and Arvind Swamy.

Also Read: Video of Arson by Policemen Morphed, Says Chennai Cop

However, the police commissioner claimed that the videos were morphed and had assured that they would be investigated.

The National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commission have issued notices to the Director General of Police seeking a response on the police crackdown on protesters.

Also Read: Chennai Cops Issued Notices by NHRC on Alleged Jallikattu Violence