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Restive Tamil Nadu protests the most -Christin Mathew Philip
-The Times of India

CHENNAI: Are people in Tamil Nadu more likely to protest in public against a perceived injustice? Data from the Union home ministry appears to suggest so.

The state recorded 15,746 demonstrations in 2011, an average of 44 a day, more than any other state in the country. Uttarakhand was a distant second, with 8,610 protests, according to figures from the home ministry's Bureau of Police Research and Development.

Maharashtra (8,289) was in third place, followed by Punjab (7,554) and Karnataka (5,013). Among the states with the fewest demonstrations were Sikkim (0), Tripura (2) and Mizoram (3). In Tamil Nadu, as in most other states, a majority of the protests were organised by political parties (6,334). Government employees (2,487), other workers (1,049) and groups of communities (731) were also responsible for a large number of demonstrations. A total of 73,341 agitations were held across the country in 2011, an average of 204 a day. The bureau did not estimate financial losses from the protests.

According to the bureau's data, the Communist-leaning and protest-prone states of West Bengal (1,352) and Kerala (825), which usually record a large number of agitations, were nowhere among the states at the top of the table. This apparent discrepancy could indicate that police and other departments under-recorded protests in these states, experts said.

"Protests are underreported in several states," a senior officer of the Tamil Nadu police said. "We permit agitations only with police permission so the numbers for Tamil Nadu are probably more accurate."

Columnist and political analyst Gnani said an increase in awareness may also have led to a spike in the number of agitations in the state.

A political observer said many political parties organised protests on a regular basis only to give themselves a semblance of legitimacy. "A party that does not hold regular protests cannot survive in this country," he said.

However, CPM Tamil Nadu secretary G Ramakrishnan said that was a cynical way of looking at protests. "Parties do not hold protests only to take on other parties, but also to highlight social issues and fight for justice for the common man," Ramakrishnan said.

Experts were surprised that students were responsible for only 440 of the 15,746 demonstrations in 2011. Students Federation of India state president K S Kanagaraj attributed this to a lack of freedom in educational institutions. "Most private colleges do not tolerate any kind of dissent," he said.

Social activists noted that there had been a rise in the number of protests across the country, but this was accompanied by a fall in their effectiveness. "The voice of the people is being ignored by the government," former civil servant M G Devasahayam said. "The government now simply ignores protests. It couldn't care any more."

"The government now suppresses a citizen's right to protest," Devasahayam said. "People take to the streets when they fail to get justice, but the authorities often try to stifle protests."