Malaysian medical students attending the Meenakshi Ammal Dental College in Chennai, India are staying indoors in fear after large-scale riots broke out in the city on Saturday.
The rioting began after Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa Jayaram was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, as a special court found her guilty of amassing about INR530 million (RM28 million) outside of her known source of income.
The sentence caused Jayaram’s supporters from her All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazzhagam (AIADMK) party to insitgate clashes with police officers in Chennai and Bengaluru.
23-year old Dr V Shovannia told The Malay Mail Online‘s Ushar Daniele that there was no rioting on the Meenakshi Ammal campus, but that the streets of Chennai were empty, and many shops are closed.
“As far as I am concerned, the situation here is bad and, to my knowledge, no Malaysian students are taking part in it,” she said.
“There were some shops still operating yesterday but then a group of people came and told everyone to shut down their businesses rudely. Some shops were even broken into.”
Students had received a text message telling them the college would be closed on Monday, but no official word was given from the management.
The text message read: “All schools and colleges in and around Chennai are ordered to be closed on Monday (29-9-2014) owing to public agitation as a result of the judgment against Jayaram by a Bengaluru court.
“(The) Public are requested to stay indoors and avoid any form of public transport. Issued in public interest by HRD (Human Resource Department) India”.
Shovannia said there had been no updates from the Malaysian Students’ Association, and that most of the news reaching them were from their friends in similar circumstances across the city.
Malaysian students planning on flying in to Chennai have been advised to not enter the city until the riots have been contained and public transportation services reinstated.
Food is also a pressing issue for students trapped in their living quarters.
“There is no food rationing at the moment but we are surviving on what we have, the famous Maggi,” Shovannia said.
“Our main concern is if the riots continue, we will run out of food and all nearby shops are closed.”
