Chennai: Anticipating legal intervention the Dravidar Kazhagam preponed its thali removal festival by three hours against the scheduled time of 10 am.

As many as 21 couples participated in the programme convened at Periyar Thidal wherein the women discarded the thalis and pledged to lead a life of gender equality.

It may be recalled that when Dravidar Kazhagam had announced that they would conduct the thali removal festival the police had imposed ban on the event stating that it would disrupt the law and order situation. Many Hindu organisations and religious leaders too had expressed their opposition about the event. However, a division bench of the Madras High Court comprising of Justices Satish K. Agnihotri and M. Venugopal had granted an interim stay on a single judge’s order, which quashed the police ban on Tuesday, April 14.

Dravidar Kazhagam had gone ahead with the event on Tuesday and when the police communicated the stay order issued by the division bench all the functionaries were asked to disperse peacefully.

(Agencies)