Chennai: The reopening of colleges in the city began on a sour note with the principal of Pachaiyappa’s college, S Kaliraj (58), a police inspector and a constable injured after a group of ‘students’ pelted stones at the cops after a clash ensued within the campus on Friday.
Students of Pachiayappa’s college on EVR Periyar High Road had hijacked three MTC buses, riding atop rooftops and hanging from the windows in their notorious tradition of ‘Bus Day’ celebrations before entering the campus around noon.
Tensions started to flare up between the cops and the student groups when the students vowed to observe another of their ‘traditions’- garlanding the statue of Pachaiyappa Mudhaliar in the campus before going to their classes.
The rear windshield of Principal Kaliraj's car damaged in the stone pelting. (Photo: DC)
“Some of them started bursting crackers inside the campus which the police and professors including the principal opposed,” a senior police officer said. The college management, with the help of police personnel, were checking the ID cards of the students before allowing them to enter the campus which led to a heated duel between the two groups. In the melee, stones were hurled from the ‘students’ group which hit the principal and the cops.
“The Principal suffered minor injuries on his head. He is out of danger. He was administered first aid and sent home,” Prof N.Shettu of the Zoology department said. Kilpauk Police Inspector N.Balan and constable Ansari also suffered minor injuries in the stone pelting, police said.
Police had to resort to a mild lathi charge to disperse the students following which about 36 students were rounded up by the cops and detained. “We have identified 12 students and given their names to the police. We will also conduct departmental enquiries,” Prof Shettu added.
The students also damaged principal’s official sedan parked inside the campus. Kilpauk Police have registered a case and are investigating.
Keeping up with fuzzy tradition
Bus route celebrations and the rivalries that follow is a tradition that is endemic to the city. The students are part of a ‘culture’ that has notoriously been passed on over the years. No other region in the country is witness to frequent clashes between college students for a reason as flimsy as ‘their bus route is different from ours’.
As colleges reopened on Friday, students of Government colleges in the city indulged in the 'tradition' of Bus Day. (Photo: DC)
It might all sound harmless and can be categorised as part and parcel of college life if not for the violence the students inflict on their fellow students and to the public in the name of celebrations, say policemen.
Friday was no different with the students of Pachaiyappas and Presidency colleges hijacking MTC buses, dancing atop rooftops, playing percussion and indulging in revelry to mark the reopening of the colleges.
While ‘Bus Day celebrations’ have been officially banned in the city, instances of group of students hijacking a bus and riding on the rooftops and windows is as common a sight on City roads as traffic signal jumping motorists.
