Picture courtesy: The New Indian Express
However, their protests were neglected and a woman protestor was even slapped by a police officer. Under such circumstances when everyone had lost hopes, a 7-year-old boy from Chennai named Akash sat in the middle of the road under the scorching sun with a placard which said, “Kudiyai vidu Padikka vidu (Renounce the liquor shops, let us study).” Winning the hearts of thousands, the young lad told The New Indian Express, “This land is for agriculture, wine shop should not be here.”
“Families suffer because people drink. They don’t have money for their children’s education because they spend everything on alcohol,” the second-grade boy further added. Only on Saturday, the residents in this area ransacked a liquor shop in the locality that was recently shifted from OMR. One of Aakash’s demands is that the police must close the ‘false’ cases against the people who protested against the liquor shop.
“They blocked me and said the wine shop (liquor shop) is closed. But I’m not sure if they have really closed it down,” he told the reporters from various media agencies who were on the spot. “He is like any other child his age,” his father Anandan told Express. “He likes to play, watches TV serials and even cartoons but he is very passionate about public causes. We told him we would get more people to help him with the protest but he did not want more people to get in trouble.”
When the police urged him to leave, the bold boy laid a towel on the ground, sat on it and started to study. After much coaxing and convincing, the young boy finally went home by ending his protest by 2 pm.“The TASMAC shop was not open on Wednesday because there was an apprehension of trouble,” said a police officer who was present at the spot.
