Defence Expo 2018: Black flag protests against Modi across TN

TIL Desk/National/Tamilnadu/ The Defence Expo 2018 was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tamil Nadu on Thursday. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and representatives of several countries attended the event.

The purpose of the Defence Expo was to alter the image of India from an importer of defence products to an exporter of defence products. However, protests by members of several political parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), threatened to steal the limelight from the Defence Expo.

A host of protesters across Tamil Nadu, holding black flags and black balloons, protested against what they called the Centre’s failure to form the Cauvery management board despite the Supreme Court’s order. Protesters planted black flags on the way and also arrived at the Chennai airport in large numbers, even as 10,000 policemen stood guard to prevent any untoward event. The protests forced the prime minister to keep away from roads, and rely on a chopper instead to carry out his engagements.

As Modi’s convoy passed through the sprawling IIT-Madras campus as it made its way to the Cancer Institute in Chennai, where the prime minister was to open the Diamond Jubilee Building, some individuals in the crowd briefly raised placards against the central government on the Cauvery issue.