TN farmers heading to Delhi to protest against Mekedatu stopped in Nagpur, sent back | Chennai News

Chennai: A group of 30 farmers from Tamil Nadu who were on their way to New Delhi to protest against Mekedatu dam were detained by Maharashtra police in Nagpur on Sunday and were sent back to Chennai. Leader of the opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin and PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss criticised the action and demanded that the farmers should be allowed to protest in Delhi.Farmers from across the state announced a protest in Delhi on Aug 4 and had travelled to Delhi in the Grand Trunk express. When the train reached Nagpur railway station, local police stormed into their compartment and forced them out. The farmers said they were taken in three police vehicles before being sent back.Udhayanidhi urged BJP govt at the Centre to permit farmers to go to Delhi and protest. “The right to protest through democratic means should not be snatched away,” he said.Claiming that TN farmers have every right to protest against the injustice being done to Tamil Nadu in the Mekedatu issue, Anbumani said stopping them and offloading them to prevent their protest is a violation of human rights. “This is an attack on the rights of TN. State govt must not take this lightly,” Anbumani said.