The Tamil Nadu BJP distanced itself from Raja’s remarks. BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan said: “His statement about removing Periyar statue was his personal opinion.” (Photo: Commons/Chinchu)
Hours after Tamil Nadu BJP leader H Raja said statues of Dravidian icon E V Ramasamy ‘Periyar’ “will be brought down”, two men were held in Vellore for allegedly vandalising a Periyar statue Tuesday. Police said the arrested men, Muthuraman and Francis, were drunk. A senior officer said the incident was reported after 9 pm. While Muthuraman is a BJP worker, his friend Francis belongs to a Communist party.
Earlier in the day, H Raja, in a post on Facebook along with a video of a Lenin statue being bulldozed in Tripura, said: “Who is Lenin? What is his relevance in India? Why is India connected to Communism? Yesterday, Lenin statue was brought down in Tripura. Tomorrow, statues of caste fanatic E V Ramaswamy Periyar will be brought down.”
His remarks invited strong criticism from different political groups and he later deleted the post. Periyar, founder of the Dravida Kazhagam party who had also led the self-respect movement, is revered in Tamil Nadu, irrespective of political affiliations.
Reacting to Raja’s statement, DMK working president M K Stalin demanded his arrest.
“Nobody has the right to touch Periyar’s statue. He (Raja) has been doing this for a long time to incite violence. He should be arrested under Goondas Act and put behind bars,” Stalin said.
“Forget about Raja, not even his forefathers would have been able to touch Periyar’s statue,” said Dalit party VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan.
Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman said it has become routine for Raja to make such statements to draw attention. “Let him touch a Periyar statue, we will see then,” he said.
The Tamil Nadu BJP distanced itself from Raja’s remarks. BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan said: “His statement about removing Periyar statue was his personal opinion.” The BJP, she said, also had no role in destroying Lenin’s statue in Tripura.
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- Mar 7, 2018 at 8:45 amLook. Safron taliban is here. And rss feku are responsible for that. Those who insited this must go to jail. Rss and bjp with the help of feku is dividing india on every basis. Cast, religion, faith. This feku has brought india to such a sorry state of affairs. If allowed to win next elections, india will again fragmanted in 500 odd prinsly states.Reply
- Mar 7, 2018 at 8:05 amRaja or BJP should not walk in Tamilnadu again. People need to be reminded how just 50 years ago, all people of any religion cannot even enter the streets where this BJP supporters lived all in the name of UPPER CASTE. It is time MODI, RSS and BJP is cleaned from Tamilnadu. MODI is sponsoring the present corrupt AIADMK to time and build BJP on ground. RSS is working with BJP to throw money and act like good social workers. LiReply
- Mar 7, 2018 at 7:44 amIndia is going on a VERY diffe path ................. Brahman and other upper caste have started digging their own graves ....................Reply
- Mar 7, 2018 at 7:55 amFrancis is a Brahmin???Reply
- Mar 7, 2018 at 8:13 amBETA ............. if u don't understand something go to sleep ....... it is very early in the morning ..............
- Mar 7, 2018 at 6:57 amThere are so many burning issues in India which has to be addressed on priority basis for such small useless issues politicians are creating hue and cry and wasting their time . Time has come people come on the street and throw out all useless politicians and slect knowledgeable good citizens bring a revolution otherwise this country will go to dogs, all people from all walks of life irrespective from which community they belong should make the state and central government accountable., be unitedReply
- Mar 7, 2018 at 6:11 amPlease destroy all the statues of ramasamy naickarReply
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