Chennai: Miscreants in Chennai and Tirupur threw shoes at two statues of Dravidian icon Periyar on Monday on the occasion of his 140th birth anniversary.
The first incident was reported from Chennai where an advocate, identified as Jagadeesan, hurled a shoe at the social reformer’s statue on Mount Road, leading to a scuffle. Jagadeesan was nabbed by Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) party workers and handed over to the Chennai police for questioning.
As reports of political parties paying tributes to the Dravidian icon surfaced, another incident was reported from Tirupur district where unidentified miscreants chiseled off a portion from a Periyar statue’s head and placed a pair of slippers on top of it. Police have initiated an investigation in the case.
Reacting to the incidents, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said: "The Tamil Nadu government will take strong action against miscreants who hurled shoes at the Periyar statue in Anna Salai today."
DMK President MK Stalin also condemned the attacks and demanded the arrest of the perpetrators under the National Security Act. "Today is a day to celebrate Periyar, the doyen of self-respect movement and social justice. However, certain fanatics in the name of shaming Periyar are trying to threaten the communal harmony and peace of Tamil Nadu and acting as raged animals," Stalin said.
In March 2018, a statue of Periyar, whose original name is EV Ramasamy, was vandalised by two men in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district. This was after senior BJP leader H Raja said Periyar was "casteist" and called for the reformist's statue to be "destroyed" in a Facebook post. He deleted the post after facing backlash.
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