VELLORE: Tension prevailed in Vellore as scores of Muslim youth staged a protest against to condemn the publication of a cartoon of Prophet Mohammed in one of the Tamil dailies here on Tuesday. They pelted government buses with stones.
The protestors, who had gathered in large numbers on the Chennai-Bangalore Road, said publication of the cartoon had hurt the sentiments of the Muslim community.
Initially, the protestors staged a “road roko.” The incident took an ugly turn when the protestors pelted stones at the daily’s office. This provoked the police to lathicharge the mob. As the protestors were on the road for more than four hours, normal traffic on the Chennai-Bangalore Road was affected.
Police said they had arrested 25 persons for causing damage to six government buses.
In one of the incidents, three children travelling by different government buses were reported to have sustained injuries. Police said the injured were treated at the Government Hospital at Adugamparai. The police had to resort to lathicharge more than five times to restore normalcy.
The protestors also pulled down the barricades that were put up to control the mob.
Vellore District Collector Dharmendra Pratap Yadav came to the spot and tried to pacify the protestors. Vellore MLA C.Gnanasekaran was present.
Vellore Range Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) T.P.Sundaramoorthy and Superintendent of Police (SP) N.Arivulselvam were present.
Employee arrestedPolice said that they have arrested Dilip Kumar, one of the employees of the newspaper, for hurting the religious sentiments of the community.
In Tiruvannamalai, Muslims belonging to various political parties and religious associations gathered in front of Gandhi Statue to condemn the Tamil newspaper.
People belonging to various ‘Jamats’ and those who affiliated to TamilNadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam gathered in front of Gandhi Statue and raised slogans against the newspaper.
Similarly, large number of Muslims staged a protest in Chengam.Source : http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/03/stories/2008090354890400.htm
