Chennai: For those travelling on Chennai’s city buses and local trains, longsword- or machete-wielding men fighting and chasing each other across bus stops and train stations or student gangs throwing stones at each other at railway stations are a regular sight. These scenes of violence hide behind a longstanding tradition between students of rival colleges in the city—of having a fellow student become a route thala (route leader).
It was during one such fight over becoming the route thala that 21-year-old A. Sundar, a student of Presidency College, was attacked by students of Pachaiyappa’s College, near the Chennai Central Railway Station, on 4 October. Sundar died on 8 October at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital after succumbing to his injuries. Periamet Police arrested five college students on charges of murder in connection with the case.
With clashes between college students over the route thala title spilling over to public places, police and college management across Chennai are having a tough time controlling the menace, pushing them to take more stringent action.
A professor at Pachaiyappa’s College, who wished to not be named, told ThePrint, “We do not want the lives of the students to be ruined in showcasing who is more powerful. We had been lenient and, sometimes, we could not take action since those incidents of fighting were not inside the campus.”
According to the Government Railway Police (GRP) Deputy Superintendent of Police, K. Ramesh, they are no longer being lenient. “We book them on relevant charges even if we find the slightest sign of misbehaviour inside the railway premises.”
A joint commissioner with the Greater Chennai Police, on condition of anonymity, said the city police is also booking those who frequently misbehave on city buses.
Kabilan S., a former route thala, who graduated from Pachaiyappa’s College in 2006, said he could never have imagined that the culture would become this violent.
“The show of strength was there even when I was the route thala. But, it never went to the point of killing another student,” Kabilan said.
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What exactly is a route thala?
The route thala tradition has unassuming origins. In the 1990s, groups of students from one college would gather at the back of a bus and sing altered versions of Tamil film songs, praising themselves and their colleges. Not to be outdone, rival college students, towards the front of the bus, would respond with their own retaliatory tunes.
However, over the years, it has taken a violent turn, evolving from students just proving dominance through songs to showcasing their power by scaring students and people in public places to become the route thala.
The culture is mainly prevalent among the students of three colleges in the city—Presidency College, Pachaiyapa’s College, and Nandanam Arts College.
“It is not just a fight over songs anymore,” said Suresh Kumar, a BA Tamil student who wished to not identify his college. “Who would accept a student as leader now just by singing a song?”
The clashes have also come to involve other college students who travel on the routes, forcing them to stick with the gangs of one college to avoid being harassed by a rival college and vice-versa.
As a student quoted earlier, part of a former route thala gang, explained, “When I used to travel on the same route and those who were involved in the fight were my college mates, I had no other option than to join the crowd for my safety. If not, a rival gang would round me up.”
The student asked not to be named because he was afraid that he might not be able to pursue his higher studies in the colleges in Chennai if identified. In the past, this student was caught in a rivalry between two college gangs that turned violent and, though he was let off by the police with a warning, he was asked to leave by the college management, delaying the completion of his bachelor’s degree.
“I joined the college on GST road, as it was one of the oldest colleges in the city. Although I was aware of the culture, I did not know then that it would cost me my studies,” he said. “It happened during my final semester. In a few months, I would have completed my degree, but they simply asked me to leave,” he added.
He finally completed his undergraduate degree in 2022 after starting afresh at a new college. Although he regrets that he lost three years of his life to the gang rivalry, he takes solace from the fact that he does not have any police cases against him. He is also relieved that he was able to leave the world of gang rivalries behind.
It was also during a fight like this that Sundar, a first-year BA Political Science student, died. According to the police, all that Sundar did was wear his college ID at the railway station.
At around 3 pm on 4 October, as Sundar was on the way to take the local train at the suburban terminal in Chennai Central Railway station, a few students from Pachaiyappa’s College caught hold of him and beat him up for daring to wear his college ID card in front of them.
While trying to escape, he ran into a pillar near the suburban railway terminal in the Moore Market complex. From there, he was rushed to the hospital, where he succumbed to injuries after four days.
According to Suresh Kumar, students often attain the title of “route thala” primarily through self-appointment.
“Whoever takes the responsibility in inter-college gang rivalry and has the control over the other students on a particular route is the route thala,” he explained.
Asked about the recent incident, Kumar expressed regret and said that there was an unwritten rule among the three students of the three colleges not to wear their IDs outside the campuses as it would always invite trouble.
“By picking a quarrel or by threatening the rival college students, seniors would try to showcase their power. If any of the gangs catch hold of a student, the first thing they ask for is college ID, but in this incident he was seen with the ID card,” Kumar said.
Kabilan also agreed that it was all about who the “big shot” was along a certain bus or train route, but till a decade ago, the position was not backed by violence.
“It was mostly about the performance inside the bus and the appearance of the person. Even though the gang wars between the colleges used to happen during our days, we never used such sharp weapons to inflict violence or threaten the public,” Kabilan said.
Passed on to juniors from seniors
Still, there seem to be some rules. The route thala can only be a senior student and needs to be a frequent traveller of that particular route.
The student quoted above said that the culture was always passed on to the juniors from the seniors since only the final-year undergraduate students could become the route thala.
“Only those who have travelled for a long time can become the route thala and, naturally, only final-year students can become one. If a junior tries to defy it and tries to take control of it by declaring himself route thala, it could lead to clashes,” he explained.
Police, colleges depute route coordinators
Apart from monitoring the suspected route thalas, since last week, the Greater Chennai Police and GRP have deputed special officers to monitor the train and bus routes during peak college hours.
Saying that violence among students could not be justified at all, DSP Ramesh also said that no student would be let off the hook if they were involved in such incidents.
“We are encouraging the public to file complaints if they see any mischievous activities by college students. We will continue to book students irrespective of the scale of the violence,” Ramesh said.
Meanwhile, Greater Chennai Police have also deputed police personnel to gather intelligence inputs over the simmering tensions between student gangs.
“Such actions could potentially quell mounting tensions before they escalate,” the joint commissioner quoted above told ThePrint, adding that traffic police have also been assigned to monitor bus routes prone to such violence.
According to the Greater Chennai Traffic Police, the Central Railway Station and Poonamallee High Road are areas that necessitate increased monitoring due to the concentration of colleges along this route.
For their part, the colleges whose students often get involved in such violence are also working to sensitise the students.
Presidency College Principal R. Raman told ThePrint, “We have arranged sessions for all students with an educational psychologist, railway police officials, and state police officials, followed by talks from our college’s alumni to inspire and guide students on the right path. These events will be conducted one after the other, and we plan to hold similar sessions regularly.”
Presidency College has also appointed a special bus and train route coordinator to monitor students travelling on these routes, starting last week.
Pachaiyappa’s College is also seeking ways to sensitise students but has yet to develop a clear plan. A professor at the institution stated that the first step would be to hold a meeting with parents to address the rising gang conflicts among students. “We will also invite a police representative to this meeting to provide a realistic picture of the situation,” the professor added.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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