The middlemen of Punjab and the farmers bonded/instigated by them along with the opposition political parties called for a nation wide bandh on December 8. The bandh received lukewarm response with only the region surrounding the protest witnessing difficulty in movement of goods and people.
The bandh however turned out to be a damp squib in the southern states especially in states like Tamil Nadu where the state government had enacted farm laws modelled along the Centre’s laws even before the the latter enacted.
However, Muslim Jamaaths in Tamil Nadu like the Lalpet Muslim Jamaath in Cuddalore district asked the Muslim shopowners of the region to down their shutters to condemn the Centre’s farm laws.
மத்திய அரசாங்கத்திற்கு எதிராக ஒன்றும் அறியாத அப்பாவி முஸ்லிம் மக்களை தூண்டிவிடும் ஜமாத்துகள் pic.twitter.com/KnzUO8tJDz
— Ma.Venkatesan (@MaVeWriter) December 10, 2020
Muslim Jamaaths in Tamil Nadu often interfere with political affairs and exercise significant control over the voting franchise of Muslims.
They had earlier tried to replicate Shaheenbagh-style protests in Chennai’s Washermanpet area against the CAA 2019.
The Lalpet Muslim Jamaath has been making news for quite some time. Earlier, it tried to instill panic by asking Muslims to take away their deposits and savings from banks.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had raided the residences of Sheikh Dawood, Mohammed Riyaz, Sadhik, Mubharis Ahmad, Rizwan and Hameed Akbar in Muthupet, Ramanathapuram, Keelakarai, Devipattinam, Lalpet, Salem and Chidambaram in connection with a case filed against eight people for allegedly supporting Islamic State (IS).
