Daijiworld Media Network – Chennai
Chennai, Aug 19: The Tamil Nadu government has withdrawn an order that sought to prevent students from participating in protests organised by Left parties and the Tamil Nadu Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), following strong political opposition.
The directive, issued on August 14 to the School Education and Higher Education departments, was withdrawn on Wednesday amid criticism from various quarters.
The order had called for coordinated measures to discourage students and young people from participating in protests and agitations organised by Left parties and the CJP. Educational institutions had also been asked to submit action-taken reports to the government by August 20.
The move drew sharp criticism from the CJP. Its national co-convener Saurav Das described the directive as unconstitutional and questioned the rationale behind restricting students from participating in protests.
The BJP, however, supported the government's move. BJP leader Vinoj P Selvam criticised the CJP and Left organisations, describing them as "agents of chaos".
The controversy comes against the backdrop of growing student-led protests over education and examination-related issues across the country. The CJP had recently spearheaded a student agitation at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, which subsequently drew attention from youth groups.
Interestingly, Left parties had extended unconditional outside support to Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government in June to help it secure the numbers needed to form the government.
The TVK emerged as the single-largest party in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections but fell short of the majority mark and relied on support from smaller parties, including the Congress and VCK, during the floor test.
Meanwhile, a separate group led by lawyer C Brahma Balasubramaniam had approached the Election Commission in June seeking registration of the 'Tamil Nadu Cockroach Janata Party' as a regional political outfit. Balasubramaniam had subsequently claimed that his organisation was different from the CJP led by Abhijeet Dipke.
The withdrawal of the government order is expected to ease some of the political tension surrounding student participation in protests, as education-related demonstrations involving younger generations continue to emerge across the country.