Two people were arrested in Tamil Nadu's Vellore for vandalising a statue of iconic Dravidian leader Periyar, according to several media reports.

According to CNN-News18, one Communist Party of India (CPI) activist and one Bharatiya Janata Party worker were arrested for the incident.

This incident comes hours after Tamil Nadu BJP leader H Raja said that EV Ramasamy, commonly known as 'Periyar', would meet a fate similar to Lenin. Raja slammed Periyar in a post he put up on Facebook, although he subsequently deleted it.

"Who is Lenin? What is his connection with India? What is the connection between Communism and India? Lenin's statue was broken down in Tripura. Today, it is Lenin's statue in Tripura. Tomorrow, it will be the caste zealot EV Ramasamy's (Periyar) statue in Tamil Nadu," he'd written.

H Raja deleted his post soon after publishing it

Periyar was a 20th Century thinker, activist and politician who started the self-respect movement against Brahmin and upper caste hegemony. He is revered as a champion of the Dravidian movement in south India.

K Stalin, working president of the DMK, which revers Periyar and owes much of its ideology to the Dravidian cause, slammed Raja, and demanded his arrest under Goondas Act.

Meanwhile, Tripura remained on edge after two statues of Vladimir Lenin were razed within 24 hours of each other after the BJP's historic win, causing the CPM to lash out at the saffron party and seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention.

The first incident occurred in Sabroom Motor Stand on Sunday where a vehicle appeared to have been rammed into the pedestal where the idol stood. The second incident occurred Monday in Belonia town in south Tripura when a statue of Lenin was bulldozed with a JBM machine allegedly by BJP workers chanting Bharat mata ki jai.

With inputs from agencies


Published Date: Mar 06, 2018 23:07 PM | Updated Date: Mar 06, 2018 23:18 PM