January 21, 2017
Any outsider looking at the VOC Park Grounds would mistake it for a carnival. There is light and music, food, cultural events, dancing and song. A well organised and disciplined crowd is ensuring that nothing untoward happens.
A protest that started with just less than 30 people on day one turned out to be a massive movement with more than a lakh participating in the peaceful protest today. Students were joined by people from various walks of life. Their one-point agenda…. allow Jallikattu.
Police too have shown utmost restraint. They closed the Avinashi Road between Uppilipalayam and Anna statue and allowed the students to use the Anna statue Road.
Students too kept up their word to the civic authorities and have been clearing the litter collected in and around the protest area. They did not allow anybody to help them unless they wore gloves while clearing the litter.
The Corporation staff too were seen clearing the bins periodically. “We had asked the volunteers to collect and keep the waste in specific places from where our staff would collect them in trucks.
So every time the bins were filled, they followed our instructions,” an official from Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation said.
There was continuous supply of food and water by good Samaritans. Not a single person went hungry in the last five days. “We have been telling the people not to waste food or water,” said an organiser.