India’s world cup victory and the police intolerance to the street celebrations in Trivandrum

This photograph is not related to the original incident.

                             The whole of India could not ask for another day to celebrate in grandeur, other than this day when its team surged to the helm of the world cricket by winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. There was not a city in India that did not celebrate the country's greatest achievement in sports. The street celebrations in almost all the major cities went on untill the Sunday dawn. Our own Trivandrum or Thiruvananthapuram also joined the celebrations in a jovial way with young people carrying Indian flags, shouting slogans, thronged various parts of  the city. The centre of the street celebrations was of course the statue square, which is in front of the secreteriat, the Governing axis of the state of Kerala. The M.G.Road was obviously blocked partially and made a thin traffic blockade in the middle of night. Youngsters rode bikes carrying the tricolor, drove cars, other four wheelers spread with large Indian flags and shouting slogans in ecstasy. Crackers burst at the corners of the city and colorful fireworks emblazoned  the skies.

                                   Video courtesy :Binu; youtube

 However, the happiness was short lived as the police who were watching the whole show silently were ordered to disperse the crowd to reinstate the traffic flow. The police went on a rampage beating up people with lathis; whomever they found on the road were beaten up and were scared off. Is this the way to control a celebrating crowd? Why couldn’t the police control the youngsters who were rejoicing their team’s bigest victory, in a peaceful manner? Are we still carrying the British legacy of lathi charges and violent retributions to nonviolent crowds? Many cities in India, yesterday celebrated almost blocking the roads and traffic, but nowhere had we seen such savagely act! Are the police in Kerala, showing up their ego or are they trying to stamp their authority of dominance on the man on the street. There is no law that suggests violent action against crowd that on the course of celebration was uintentionally creating a few hindrances to the traffic. There was not any curfew imposed that said that people should not flock on the roads. Surya TV reported that most of the policemen were drunk!

A few months back a political party blocked the roads for days in Kerala in the name of blockading central Government offices, Why was the police then a mute spectator? Where did the protectors of law go then? The law should be equal for everyone. The youngsters of Trivandrum were sporty enough, as they did not react to the nomadic and brutal action of the Kerala police. The repercussions  of beating up the youngsters would have been different if it was a Kolkatta or a Mumbai.