After attacking actor Rajinikanth in a polemic two days ago, Murasoli, the DMK mouthpiece, has sought to carry out a damage control exercise by announcing that care would be taken while publishing such articles in the future.
“It has been brought to our notice that the write-up has wounded some ‘good souls’. The editorial (team) has been advised to take care while publishing such write-ups,” the editor of the daily said in a clarification published on Sunday.
DMK sources said the “good souls” actually referred to Mr. Rajinikanth, who was upset with the write-up and took up the issue with party president M.K. Stalin.
‘Unwarranted polemic’
“The actor’s complaint was that such polemic was unwarranted when he was maintaining a friendly relationship with the DMK and its leadership,” party sources said.
Written under the pen name “Silandhi” (Spider), the write-up titled — Who is this black sheep, Mey mey mey — followed a format of an imaginary conversation between Mr. Rajinikanth and an “innocent” fan over the actor’s recent announcement that fans should not automatically expect posts in his proposed political party and so on.
Silandhi is normally used as a pen name by the paper’s editor Murasoli Selvam.
In the mock conversation, the fan questions the actor how he could insult them after allowing them to be flag-bearers of his fans’ club and go mad over his films so much so that they celebrated their release like the arrival of Deepavali. The fan also mocks at the actor asking why he should take the plunge into politics instead of taking care of his family.
“If others ask us this question, what should be our answer?” the fan wonders, referring to Mr. Rajinikanth’s advice to them to take care of their families first.
On Mr. Rajinikanth’s assertion that politics is not a tool for earning positions and making money, the fan replies that if so, he should follow the example of Periyar.
“You need the Chief Minister’s post. But those who work relentlessly for the purpose should not aspire for power. What kind of justice is this?” the fan asks.
On Friday, soon after the Murasoli article appeared, the actor issued a statement saying no one could distance him from his fans.