Amidst AAP mudslinging in Delhi, Chennai cadre in jail for a week

Sameera Ahmed | The News Minute | March 28, 2015 | 07.30 pm IST“He says ‘I'm fine’, that he is okay. But how can he be okay?,” asks Ishrat Athher, a house-maker and a mother of three children. Her husband, Syed Athher Ahmed, is one of the 50 Aam Aadmi Party members who have been languishing in Chennai’s infamous Puzhal jail for a week, after a surprise protest by them at the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's house over the death of a state Agriculture Ministry engineer."He and others have been jailed for a genuine cause,” says Ishrat, speaking to The News Minute over the phone. Sounding worried but upbeat, Ishrat has met her husband twice in prison after his arrest and says her children have been her biggest support through the ordeal, “First they felt bad. But they have been very supportive.”The AAP, amidst the bitter-infighting between it's top brass in Delhi, has not been able to pay enough attention to its own members who have been jailed for more than a week. Their families are in a turmoil, their state leadership unable to get them out on bail.The jailed members belong to Tamil Nadu wing of the AAP, which has been protesting over the lack of progress in investigation into the death of S Muthukumarasamy, an agricultural engineer who had committed suicide over alleged pressure from former Tamil Nadu agriculture minister SS Krishnamoorthy. Not being satisfied with the response, the protesters staged a surprise protest inside Tamil Nadu CM O Pannerselvam's house in Greenways Road in Chennai on March 21st.Though SS Krishnamoorthy was immediately dropped from the Cabinet over his alleged involvement in the engineer's death, political parties in Tamil Nadu have been demanding an independent investigation by the CBI into the official’s death. AAP workers who spoke to The News Minute hours after their protest inside the CM’s residence said that they had caught the police by surprise when they entered into the CM’s residence. "We have been planning this for a long time. If we go and ask for permission to protest, it doesn’t work,” Chandramohan, an AAP member in Chennai, had told us after the protest. . “Removing the minister is not the solution. This has become a fashion..They should be put behind bars” he said. They were later rounded up and taken to a community center where they were held until further investigation.According to V Sandhya, the Media Coordinator for TN-AAP, usually their protesters were detained for a while after protests and then released. However, this time, party supporters were rounded up, taken and detained in a community center and then lodged in Puzhal jail. The party’s advocate, Jaikumar Arul has filed two petitions, one for 46 men, and the other for the four women, seeking their release from prison. At their remand hearing on Wednesday, the state's prosecution demanded extra time stating their lack of preparation for filing a reply with the court. The judge has reportedly said that the possibility of providing bail to the cadres will be considered if a response was not received from the prosecution by Monday. The police, according to Sandhya, have reportedly said that they would be filing additional charges against the 50 protesters under the Tamil Nadu Public Property (Prevention of Damage and Loss) Act. “This a delay-tactic to keep them in," she adds. The party plans to begin a relay fast on Sunday in Chennai until the bail petitions are granted. AAP High Command Too Busy?While the TN wing of the AAP struggles to get their protesters bail, only customary statements have been issued by senior leaders in Delhi.On Friday, Kejriwal released a statement requesting the TN government to release the activists. “The government is evading the demand of our members for quite some time,” he said. Earlier, Yogendra Yadav and Prashanth Bhushan, who have now been removed from the party had reportedly issued separate statements demanding a release of the party men. The State wing however put up a united front on record. “We have all the support from the Centre“ said Sandhya. Two observers from Delhi also reportedly flew down to meet those in jail and even addressed workers in the party.(Image courtesy : V Sandhya) TweetFollow @thenewsminute