Chennai: Life remained largely unaffected across the state on Tuesday despite a strike called by Tamil outfits demanding India’s boycott of Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka.
The bandh called by around 20 outfits including MDMK and MMK evoked lukewarm response across Tamil Nadu while it was total in the neighbouring Union territory of Puducherry.
Normal life remained unaffected in TN with buses, autorickshaws, taxies and private vehicles plying as usual and schools, colleges and offices functioning normally. However, commuters faced inconvenience in some places following brief spells of rail roko by protesters.
In the city, shopowners who had downed shutters in the morning resumed operations by afternoon. Around 15,000 small industries in Coimbatore and a few hosiery units in Tirupur remained closed.
Police, who had made elaborate security arrangements to maintain law and order, detained more than 8,000 protesters including MDMK chief Vaiko for staging rail and road blockades. In the city alone, police arrested nearly 1,900 protesters for attempting to block train and stage road roko.
Puducherry observed “total” bandh where majority of shops and business outlets remained closed and public and private transport kept off the roads. Most private schools in Puducherry declared a holiday and cinema houses suspended shows.
Around 20 outfits and parties including MDMK, Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi and CPI, had called the bandh demanding “total boycott” of CHOGM being held in Colombo from November 15 and seeking suspension of Sri Lanka from the group for alleged war crimes against the ethnic Tamils.
