NEW DELHI: Soon after the Lenin statue was bulldozed in Tripura after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the state elections another statue was vandalised in Tamil Nadu by BJP workers that of E.V. Ramasamy Periyar. The vandalism was apparently provoked by BJP leader H. Raja s Facebook post that said Periyar was next after Lenin. However Raja later deleted his post and even regretted publishing it. It seems no political party can afford to openly oppose or criticise Periyar in Tamil Nadu. That s because Periyar began the Dravidian movement that produced DMK AIDMK and MDMK. Vandalism of the statue of Periyar a radical Dravida https://www.givology.org/~arfplayer/ pride activist who also launched movements against caste oppression could come at a huge political cost. However ironically Periyar had himself started protests that involved burning and breaking of idols of Hindu gods. Below is a brief introduction to Periyar and his politics: Who was Periyar? Erode Venkata Ramasamy Periyar was born in 1879 in what was then called the Madras Presidency to a Kannada businessman and later joined his father s business. He joined the Congress party but left it after he found it to be dominated by Brahmins. Much later he started his own Dravidar Kazhagam party which is considered the inspiration of all political parties launched later on the plank of Tamil pride. What was his politics? Periyar s thought philosophy and action revolved around his opposition to Brahminism. He said Brahmins had dominated all other castes through their religious principles and practices. He propounded rationalism and criticised the Hindu religion as superstitious. However he believed in the ideas of Tamil saint Thiruvalluvar and hence held faith in the idea of a single formless God. He found conversion to Islam and Christianity as a way for the lower castes to escape Brahmin oppression as he thought both these religions created better societies than Hinduism. Periyar was also against Mahatma Gandhi because he saw Gandhi not totally rejecting Brahminical ideas and practices. Periyar s movements Periyar came to be known widely as a leader of the lower castes after he led a movement in 1924 that demanded entry of Dalits in temples in Kerala. He is known the most for his Self-respect Movement that aimed at generating pride in lower castes. His campaign against imposition of Hindi in Tamil Nadu is the origin of all anti-Hindi movements later in south India. He found Hindi a tool of Brahminical domination of Tamils. His most controversial movement was protests against Hindu idols. The movement involved breaking or burning of idols of Hindu gods or garlanding them with shoes. Why is Periyar such a big issue today? Even though many Dalits find Periyar to be a representative of non-Brahmin upper castes he has been a big anti-caste icon in India. More than that his importance is due to his centrality to the Tamil pride movement. Today no political party can hope to succeed in Tamil Nadu politics if it does not swear by Periyar. Even the BJP which can hope to achieve little in Tamil Nadu politics on its own cannot afford to be seen opposing Periyar. Perhaps that s by BJP leader Raja regretted his Facebook post against Periyar.
.story-content span .story-content p .story-content div color:#000!important;font-family: open sans Arial!important;font-size:15px!important ALSO READ Statue politics: Periyar crusaders protest brahmins attacked; 10 updates Modi says BJP ideology won in Tripura; Lenin statue razed: 10 developments Lenin toppled in Tripura: Razing of statues irks Modi; top 10 developments Letters to BS: Gujarat results show prices don t define rural distress Letters: Congress reinvention span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 The defacement of the statues of Thanthai Periyar EV Ramasamy and Vladimir Lenin by disciplined foot soldiers of the Sangh Parivar constitutes a sign of the times. H Raja s hate-filled tweet warrants his dismissal from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and his prosecution. The people of Tamil Nadu cannot be a punch bag for the likes of H Raja. Hopefully the widespread protests in the state are taken note of by the Hindu revivalists. The contention that the desecration of Periyar s statue was committed under the influence of alcohol by a BJP functionary and his accomplice the belated apology tendered by H Raja party state unit s distancing from the habitual offender s tweet BJP President Amit Shah s stern warning to party men and Prime Minister Narendra Modi s disapproval of acts of vandalism cannot entirely undo the damage and the grievous hurt caused to the Tamil psyche and sentiment. The angry backlash over the defilement of Periyar s statue seems to have driven the BJP to strike a hasty retreat. The tit-for-tat hurling of a petrol bomb at the BJP office in Coimbatore and the defilement of the bust of Syama Prasad Mookerjee in Kolkata point to the possibility of precipitation of tensions and break-out of a vicious spiral of violence a scenario that needs to be averted at all costs. The statue toppling spree is part of the ideological and cultural wars waged by the RSS-BJP combine to bring in a monolithic culture and reintroduce upper-caste dominance. These goals are not easy to achieve in today s India and are sure to be meet with resistance. The poison of religious racial or ideological hatred have no place in our pluralist democracy. G David Milton Maruthancode Letters can be mailed faxed or e-mailed to: The Editor Business Standard Nehru House 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg New Delhi 110 002 Fax: (011) 23720201 E-mail: letters@bsmail.in All letters must have a postal address and telephone number
Written by Arun Janardhanan | Updated: March 8 2018 9:22 am Periyar is seen as an icon of OBC political assertion. Any attempt to deride him will be seen as an attempt to undermine the gains made by OBCs even beyond Tamil Nadu. (Illustration: Shaym) To those looking for Hindu symbols of religiosity Tamil Nadu would appear to be deeply religious: people wear vibhuti or kumkum on foreheads deities and temples are everywhere from street corners to government offices vehicles are decorated with colourful gods and offerings even the lives of the minority communities are splattered with the colours of religious ritual. Why is an iconoclast rationalist social reformer who died 45 years ago so dear to the people of such a state? E V Ramasamy Periyar Born in 1879 Periyar is remembered for the Self Respect Movement to redeem the identity and self-respect of Tamils. He envisaged a Dravida homeland of Dravida Nadu and launched a political party Dravidar Kazhagam (DK). Periyar started his political career as a Congress worker in his hometown Erode. He quarrelled with Gandhi over the question of separate dining for Brahmin and non-Brahmin students at Gurukkulam a Congress-sponsored school owned by nationalist leader V V S Iyer in Cheranmahadevi near Tirunelveli. At the request of parents Iyer had provided separate dining for Brahmin students which Periyar opposed. Gandhi proposed a compromise arguing that while it may not be a sin for a person not to dine with another he would rather respect their scruples. After failing to bend the Congress to his view Periyar resigned from the party in 1925 and associated himself with the Justice Party and the Self Respect Movement which opposed the dominance of Brahmins in social life especially the bureaucracy. The Justice Party had a decade earlier advocated reservation for non-Brahmins in the bureaucracy and after coming to power in the Madras Presidency issued an order to implement it. Periyar s fame spread beyond the Tamil region during the Vaikom Satyagraha of 1924 a mass movement to demand that lower caste persons be given the right to use a public path in front of the famous Vaikom temple. Periyar took part in the agitation with his wife and was arrested twice. He would later be referred to as Vaikom Veerar (Hero of Vaikom). During the 1920s and 30s Periyar combined social and political reform and challenged the conservatism of the Congress and the mainstream national movement in the Tamil region. He reconstructed the Tamil identity as an egalitarian ideal that was originally unpolluted by the caste system and counterposed it against the Indian identity championed by the Congress. He argued that caste was imported to the Tamil region by Aryan Brahmins who spoke Sanskrit and came from Northern India. In the 1930s when the Congress ministry imposed Hindi he drew a parallel with the Aryanisation process and claimed it was an attack on Tamil identity and self-respect. Under him the Dravidian Movement became a struggle against caste and an assertion of Tamil national identity. In the 1940s Periyar launched Dravidar Kazhagam which espoused an independent Dravida Nadu comprising Tamil Malayalam Telugu and Kannada speakers. The Dravidian linguistic family was the foundation on which he based his idea of a Dravida national identity. These ideas had a seminal influence on the shaping of the political identity and culture of the Tamil speaking areas of Madras Presidency and continue to resonate in present-day Tamil Nadu. Periyar died in 1973 at the age of 94. His work and his legacy For the average Tamil Periyar today is an ideology. He stands for a politics that foregrounded social equality self-respect and linguistic pride. As a social reformer he focused on social cultural and gender inequalities and his reform agenda questioned matters of faith gender and tradition. He asked people to be rational in their life choices. He argued that women needed to be independent not mere child-bearers and insisted that they be allowed a equal share in employment. The Self Respect Movement he led promoted weddings without rituals and sanctioned property as well as divorce rights for women. He appealed to people to give up the caste suffix in their names and to not mention caste. He instituted inter-dining with food cooked by Dalits in public conferences in the 1930s. Over the years Periyar has transcended the political divide as well as the faultlines of religion and caste and come to be revered as Thanthai Periyar the father figure of modern Tamil Nadu. C N Annadurai who was Periyar s dearest pupil at one time broke with him split the DK and formed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 1949. Anna a man of the masses recognised the value of electoral democracy and accepted that Tamil separatism had no future. He used the new medium of cinema to spread the ideals of the Dravidian Movement and established himself as the successor to Periyar. In 1967 the DMK won office in Tamil Nadu. Since then Tamil Nadu has been ruled by parties who trace their origin to the Dravidian Movement and swear by its ideals. They may have diluted Periyar s ideals in office but both the DMK and the AIADMK proudly claim to be inheritors of Periyar s social and political vision. If Periyar was an iconoclast Anna was a moderate reformist. On the pedestal of one of Periyar s many statues in Tamil Nadu is the inscription: There is no god and no god at all. He who created god was a fool he who propagates god is a scoundrel and he who worships god is a barbarian. His successors moderated this radicalism R Kannan recounts in Anna: The Life and Times of C N Annadurai that Anna who under the influence of his atheist mentor once broke Ganesha figures would later say I would neither break the Ganesha idol nor the coconut (the offering). During the Emergency a petition against offensive inscriptions on the pedestals of Periyar s statues came before the Madras High Court. The court dismissed the petition saying Periyar believed in what he said and there was nothing wrong in having his words as inscriptions on his statues. In a judgment passed in another case on June 2012 retired Madras High Court Justice K Chandru said: The installation of the Periyar statue in the school premises will not automatically covert the children into an atheist outlook Ultimately the understanding of the philosophy of such a personality will only help them from having scientific temper humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform as enshrined under Article 51-A(h) of the Constitution. Fallout of the attack on Periyar The universal condemnation of BJP leader H Raja s social media remarks he has since removed the post and apologised underlines the iconic status Periyar enjoys in Tamil Nadu. DK now has limited political influence in Tamil Nadu but Periyar has grown beyond the DK and even Tamil Nadu. While caste discrimination continues to be prevalent in the state every political party pays at least lip service to Periyar s ideals of social and political justice. In a way Raja was right to compare Lenin and Periyar Periyar is to the Dravidian Movement as Lenin is to Communism. Raja s rejection of Periyar was construed as a rejection of his ideals. The BJP which is trying to wear down the image of a Hindi-Hindutva outfit in Tamil Nadu could find it difficult to live down Raja s comments. Periyar is seen as an icon of OBC political assertion. Any attempt to deride him will be seen as an attempt to undermine the gains made by OBCs even beyond Tamil Nadu. For all the latest Explained News download Indian Express App Tags: Express Explained Tamil Nadu KKsasiMar 8 2018 at 9:24 amMany North Indians in the comment section who think Brahmins were soft targets or weak. Do not confuse North India and India. Southern brahmins had a stranglehold over the societies in what is today TN and Kerala. Many of these Brahmins identified themselves as Aryans and similar to the British. Many collaborated with them. Hatred against them at that time was justified. Sangh Parivar thinks it can gradually vilify Periyar so that the next generation of Tamils grow up hating him. Won t work here.(2)(1) Reply KKsasiMar 8 2018 at 9:15 amThis is an attempt by the Sangh Parivar to rewrite Tamil history and spread their tentacles here. As before it will not work.(2)(1) Reply BbmniacMar 8 2018 at 9:11 amMr Naicker was a man with no education though some of the causes he espoused cannot be faulted. But we tend to forget that he had no regard for Tamil And encouraged violent methods of opposition. None of the other south Indian states accepted the idea of a distinct Dravidian race. It is time people compared him to a reformer like Sri Narayana guru(1)(6) Reply heyramMar 8 2018 at 7:26 amIn any civilized and lawbound society a person like E.V. Ramasamy who was a divisive bigot who called for violence against and death to a community would have been jailed and hounded. It is a shame that in Tamilnadu he is called a great man and worshipped. This man was also part of the Justice Party that wanted British rule to continue and India not to become independent.(7)(14) ReplyKKsasiMar 8 2018 at 9:21 amThe real bigots are the Sanghis who are trying to their poison here in TN. They will be thrown out as they always have been.(4)(1) ReplyBbujjiMar 8 2018 at 9:38 amin any civilized and lawbound world the proponents of brahmanism varna system would have been jailed and hounded. over centuries brahmins twisted hindu religion for their own material gains and forced the population with fear of god to practice severe forms of discrimination and apartheid. even today brahmins in many regions across india exercise unlimited power by employing religion and scriptures to dominate a ever supers ious and blindly religious hindu populace. though not a saint periyar was one of the few voices who questioned this religious opportunism discrimination and indigenous apartheid. the so called rigid varna system was the deplorable gift of a few vily brahmins to indian society. using the scriptures citing customs and traditions the brahmins were the ultimate puppet masters. although a slow change is now being witnessed among the community many of them still remain blind to the cur dynamics of indian society and still suffer from superiority complex.(0)(2) Reply SsriMar 8 2018 at 6:47 amEVR was a hateful bigoted a.s.s.wi.pe -- he is being touted as some sort of social reformer when all he did was insults the scheduled castes and poisoned society against brahmins. This bigot-ed sh.the.ad is being played up as some sort of important character in south indian politics when he is nothing of the sort -- he was a rich upper caste nayakar with a vicious hatred for all lower caste people. His recorded speeches were just filled with insults at the laziness and stupidity of lower caste people and we have the usual bunch of fake historians like Ramachandra Guha rewriting history yet again and making EVR to be pro-dalit social reformer. Utter lie that is. There must be recorded material of this guy s speeches back in the 60s and 70s that will reveal the kind of person he was. Doordarshan definitely has these tapes.(4)(13) ReplyKKsasiMar 8 2018 at 9:18 amThe real bigots are the Sanghis who think they can their poison in TN.(0)(0) Reply Load More Comments
.story-content span .story-content p .story-content div color:#000!important;font-family: open sans Arial!important;font-size:15px!important ALSO READ Modi says BJP ideology won in Tripura; Lenin statue razed: 10 developments Lenin toppled in Tripura: Razing of statues irks Modi; top 10 developments In proposing Ram statue Yogi follows in Gujarat Maharashtra s footsteps Now Periyar statue vandalised; petrol bomb hurled at BJP Coimbatore office span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 A bust of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee was vandalised in Kolkata today allegedly by Left supporters an obvious act of retribution following the razing of statues of Soviet icon Vladimir Illyich Lenin in Triupra officials said. As an unseemly fallout of the BJP s historic triumph in the Left bastion of Tripura suspected right-wing activists had pull down two statues of Lenin at different places in the tiny north-eastern state. Today seven people belonging to a Left-leaning group called Radical vandalised the bust of Mookerjee in south Kolkata. All the seven including a woman were arrested Kolkata police commissioner Rajiv Kumar said. The incident also followed desecration of a bust of Dravidian movement founder E V Ramasamy Periyar in Tamil Nadu s Vellore after a Facebook post by a senior BJP leader. The incident triggered widespread protests across the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly condemned the incidents of vandalism of statues and warned of stern action against those found guilty. Following the demolition of two Lenin statues in Tripura a statue of Dravidian icon and social reformer E V Ramasamy popularly known as Periyar was vandalised in Tamil Nadu s Vellore on Tuesday night. The BJP s historical leaders did not escape unscathed either as on Wednesday a bust of BJP icon Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was blackened and smashed with a hammer in Kolkata s Keoratola crematorium. Syama Prasad Mukherjee s statue vandalised in Kolkata 6 detained Later in the day news agencies reported that a statue of BR Ambedkar had been vandalised by unidentified people in Meerut s Mawana late Tuesday night. Meanwhile Rajnath Singh on Wednesday asked all political parties to ensure that those found desecrating statues were dealt with strictly. The minister said that such incidents of vandalism could never be justified. As a fallout of Raja s comment and the vandalising of Periyar s statue at Thirupattur in Vellore district late on Tuesday several Tamil Brahmins were attacked in Triplicane area here on Wednesday morning and their sacred thread were cut by vandals on two wheelers raising pro-Ramasamy slogans. ALSO READ: Deal strictly with those vandalising statues Rajnath tells parties Here are the top 10 developments surrounding the statue war and the political reactions to it: 1. DVK men cut sacred threads of at least eight people in Chennai Four alleged Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam men forcibly cut the poonals (sacred threads) of some people in Mylapore on Wednesday morning. The incident happened a day after BJP leader H Raja posted a message on social media platforms that denigrated social reformer Periyar E V Ramasamy. The men shouted slogans hailing Periyar said eyewitnesses. 2. Anna Hazare expresses displeasure over damage to statues Social activist Anna Hazare today expressed displeasure over damage to the statues across the country and said nobody has the right to do such things . He also said the war between India and Pakistan would push both the countries three decades back but the country should go for it if Pakistan fails to understand (the language of peace). 3. Modi strongly condemns vandalism Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday strongly condemned the vandalism of statues in many states triggered by razing of Communist hero Lenin s statue in Tripura on Monday an act condoned by some BJP leaders followed by similar incidents in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. (The) Prime Minister has strongly disapproved reported incidents of vandalism in parts of (the) country an official statement said. The statement said Modi spoke Home Minister Rajnath Singh and sought stern action against those who resorted to vandalism of statues. 4. Deal strictly with those vandalising statues Rajnath tells parties Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today asked all political parties to ensure that those found desecrating statues are dealt with strictly and said such incidents of vandalism can never be justified. I appeal to everyone all parties that anyone indulging in such acts should be dealt with strictly. These incidents can never be justified Singh told reporters outside Parliament. Prime NarendraModi has expressed his strong disapproval of statues being vandalised in parts of the country and spoken to the home minister on the matter. 5. Lok Sabha disrupted for third day; Protests over statue The proceedings of the Lok Sabha were washed out for the third consecutive day today as parties protested on various issues including vandalisation of statue of Dravidian icon Thanthai Periyar and PNB scam. While the Congress continued to press for prime minister s reply on the Rs 12 700-crore bank fraud allegedly involving diamantaire Nirav Modi members from AIADMK and AAP were in the Well holding photos of Periyar and raising slogans condemning the vandalism in Vellore. The TRS members raised slogans demanding a hike in Telangana s quota in reservation. While TDP continued to press for special status for Andhra Pradesh another NDA ally Shiv Sena protested like yesterday demanding classical language status for Marathi. 6. TN BJP sacks functionary for vandalising Periyar statue The BJP s Tamil Nadu unit today sacked a party functionary for allegedly vandalising a statue of rationalist leader E V Ramasamy popularly known as Periyar in Tirupattur in Vellore district. R Muthuraman is being expelled from the party BJP state chief Tamilisai Soundarrajan said in a brief statement. Muthuraman was one of the two persons arrested by police for allegedly vandalising a bust-size statue of Ramasamy in an inebriated condition the other was identified as Francis. Meanwhile the CPI said Francis is not a party activist. Francis was not a member of the party nor was he connected to it CPI state unit secretary R Mutharasan said. Police yesterday said that Muthuraman was suspected to be a BJP worker and Francis was believed to be a CPI activist. 7. Amit Shah warns of severe action over statue razing BJP President Amit Shah on Wednesday called the incidents of toppling statues in Tripura and other parts of the country unfortunate and warned of severe action against guilty party members. In a series of tweets the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said destroying statues was extremely unfortunate. Any person associated with the BJP found to be involved with destroying any statue will face severe action from the party he said. However he said the party will not take action against national secretary H Raja who is facing flak for his controversial remarks on Dravidian icon Periyar. Asked if the BJP will take action against Raja Shah told reporters outside Parliament No we will not . 8. Syama Prasad Mukherjee s statue vandalised in Kolkata 6 detained Members of a left wing student organisation on Wednesday allegedly vandalised a bust of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee here and blackened its face the West Bengal BJP said. Six members of the group have been detained by the police in the incident that happened at the Keoratola crematorium. Condemning the incident the state BJP leadership demanded strong action against the offenders and claimed that Mukherjee s contribution to Bengal politics cannot be erased thus. We condemn the act of vandalising the statue of Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee... demand very strong action against the culprits and also want to give... message that you cannot take away the contribution of Mukherjee in building West Bengal by this shameful act Sayantan Basu general secretary of West Bengal BJP said in a release. 9. Periyar statue vandalised in TN 2 arrested A statue of social reformer and founder of Dravidian movement E V Ramasamy Periyar was allegedly vandalised in Tamil Nadu s Vellore district tonight police said. The incident which the police claimed was perpetrated by two drunk men assumed political significance as it came after a BJP leader indicated that statues of the rationalist leader could be the next to be pulled down after a statute of Communist icon Lenin was razed by suspected BJP workers in Tripura. A senior district police officer said that two people identified as Muthuraman and Francis damaged the bust at Tirupattur in an inebriated state. The duo have been arrested the police said adding that while Muthuraman was suspected to be a BJP worker Francis is believed to be a CPI activist. 10. CPM blames BJP workers for Lenin statue incident Two statues of communist icon Vladimir Lenin were brought down in South Tripura the police said today as the CPI(M) and its arch-rival in Bengal the Trinamool Congress blamed the BJP for the incidents. The statues were pulled down just days after the Left was defeated in Assembly polls by the BJP and its ally IPFT which together won a two-third majority in the House in a state where the CPI(M) was in power for 25 years. A five-foot high fibre glass statue of Lenin was toppled at Belonia yesterday while a smaller figure was razed at Sabroom two days ago district superintendent of police Monchak Ipper said. Dr BR Ambedkar s statue vandalised by unidentified people in Meerut s Mawana late last night; Dalit community held protest & blocked traffic in the morning ended the protest after assurance from the administration of installation of new statue pic.twitter.com/DAAcq6g5Wf ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 7 2018 To repeat the vandalizing of existing statues is absolutely unjustified. But the eulogies being offered us of Lenin are utterly disingenuous. He was a tyrant a despot. https://t.co/WHQvLBhPmj Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) March 7 2018
The war of ideological icons peaked on Wednesday with reports of statues being defiled filtered in from various parts of the country. Latest in series was a BR Ambedkar statue which was demolished by unknown miscreants in Uttar Pradesh s Meerut district the authorities said as they assured a swift probe and restoration of the Dalit icon s statue. Firstpost compiled the developments on the issue so far: Incidents of vandalism report from different parts of country Initially the felling of two statues of communist ideologue Vladimir Lenin in Tripura allegedly by celebrating BJP workers had opened a can of worms in the war of political ideologies. A five-foot high fibre glass statue of Lenin was toppled at Belonia on Monday while a smaller figure was razed at Sabroom on Sunday. However both incidents gathered attention on Tuesday. A Periyar statue was smashed in Vellore on Tuesday. News18 Then apparently inspired by the Tripura incident a BJP youth-wing leader in Tamil Nadu and party s national secretary H Raja took to social media on Tuesday and posted derogatory posts about Dravidian movement icon Periyar EV Ramasamy suggesting that his statues and busts will suffer the same fate. Subsequently late on Tuesday night it was reported that a Periyar statue was smashed with a hammer by two men one of whom was a BJP worker. The police has arrested two people in the incident. Besides a Syama Prasad Mookerjee statue in West Bengal s Kolkata too was smashed as retaliatory action but seven Jadavpur University students were arrested immediately after the incident. Mukerjee was the founder of Jana Sangh that was the precursor of the Bharatiya Janata Party. A petrol bomb was also hurled at BJP s Coimbatore office in retaliation of the party leaders statements against Periyar. Narendra Modi Amit Shah condemn attacks on statues Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday strongly condemned the vandalism of statues in many states and warned of stern action against those found guilty. Meanwhile BJP president Amit Shah also termed the desecration of communist icon Lenin s statues in Tripura and Periyar s statue in Tamil Nadu extremely unfortunate as he warned party workers of stern action. The recent issue on destroying of statues is extremely unfortunate. We as a party do not support the bringing down of anybody s statue. Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 7 2018 The recent issue on destroying of statues is extremely unfortunate. We as a party do not support the bringing down of anybody s statue. I have spoken to the party units in both Tamil Nadu and Tripura. Any person associated with the BJP found to be involved with destroying any statue will face severe action from the party he said. Home ministry issues advisory to states wants stern action preventive measure to maintain law and order Taking a serious view of the desecration of statues the home ministry issued two advisories within one day asking states to hold district magistrates and superintendents of police personally responsible for such incidents of vandalism. The MHA in its earlier advisory had told all states and Union Territories that incidents of toppling and damaging of statues must be checked immediately and stern action should be taken to prevent such incidents. Dravidian parties protest in Chennai Angered DMK workers took to streets in Chennai and burned effigies of Raja. The party MLAs were seen protesting at various spots including Anna Salai and RK Nagar. Politician-turned-actor Kamal Hassan said These recorded views on Periyar are very low and punishable by law according to legal experts. Periyar statues don t require protection the Tamils will protect them. Those who speak scandalously about Periyar should be the ones given security because they ll need it. We can t accept these expressions of regret. H Raja s effigy burnt by protestors in Chennai s R K Nagar. Mydeen Abdul Kadar/101Reporters Several AIADMK MLAs including Thamimun Ansari Karunas and U Thaniyarasu have issued a joint statement demanding H Raja s arrest under the National Security Act while MDMK chief Vaiko questioned why BJP top leadership did not take action against Raja. BJP sacks worker who defaced Periyar statue but no action against Raja Shah said the party will not take action against Raja who is facing flak for his controversial remarks on Periyar. Facing backlash Raja deleted the post said that it was posted by his social media manager without his knowledge or consent. He tendered an apology while claiming he has sacked the person responsible for the incident. Views should be confronted by views only and not by violence. I have no intentions of hurting anybody. Therefore if anybody felt hurt by that post I express my heartfelt regret he said. Opposition flays BJP in Parliament Opposition parties condemned the shameful incidents of damage to statues and hit out at the BJP alleging that its members were becoming intolerant and were insulting the people especially the poor. While Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge condemned insult of rationalist icons TMC leader Derek O Brien dubbed the incidents an absolute shame and third class . CPI leader D Raja said Periyar was not just a great leader of Tamil Nadu but a global leader. He was the founder of self-respect and rationalist movement and fought against the caste system. With inputs from agencies
ALSO READ Rajnath Singh disapproves vandalism of statues asks states to act strictly Kamal Haasan s party Makkal Needhi Maiam launched: Will he be the next NTR? Kamal Haasan unveils party flag names his party Makkal Needhi Maiam Kamal Haasan political party Makkal Needhi Maiam launched: Top 10 developments Kamal Haasan s Makkal Needhi Maiam would break AAP s record says Kejriwal span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Wednesday said that the state does not need police deployment to protect E V Ramasamy Periyar s statue as Tamilians are self-capable of protecting the honour of the social reformer. There is no need to deploy police for protection of Periyar Statue. We Tamilians will protect it Haasan told reporters. The newly formed Makkal Needhi Maiam party president further stressed that the statue was demolished to divert the attention from the formation of a Cauvery River Management Board. I feel that this issue is just to divert attention from Cauvery issue Haasan said. A statue of Dravidar Kazhagam founder and social reformer Periyar E V Ramasamy was vandalised in Tamil Nadu s Vellore city on Tuesday evening after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Raja in his now-deleted Facebook Post wrote Who is Lenin and what is the connection between Lenin and India? What connection has India with Communists? Lenin s statue has been removed in Tripura. Today it is Lenin s statue in Tripura tomorrow it will be the statue of caste fanatic EVR Ramasamy. Following the criticism the BJP leader has now apologised for the post and blamed his social media team for the comments on Periyar.(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Updated: March 6 2018 9:40 pm CPM leaders took out a rally against the BJP attack on its party cadre. (Express Photo by Partha Paul) The bulldozing of the statue of Communist icon Lenin in Tripura has snowballed into a major controversy with members of the Left Front castigating the fascist onslaught of the BJP whose members have been accused of pulling down the fiber-glass statue barely 48 hours after the assembly election results. On Monday afternoon celebrating BJP workers and supporters razed the statue in Tripura s Belonia town with the help of a JCB amid cries of Bharat Mata ki jai . While the CPM which lost power in the state after 25 years termed the incident as an example of Communism phobia the BJP claimed that the statue was brought down by people oppressed by the Left. The northeastern state is reported to have witnessed sporadic violence and clashes between rival political groups in different parts ever since BJP stormed to victory in the recently-concluded assembly elections in Tripura. The CPM claimed at least 200 cases of violence against its cadres as well as attacks on its offices a day after the results were announced. According to ANI section 144 was imposed in several violence-affected area. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also spoke to Governor Tathagata Roy and the DGP and asked them to ensure peace till a new government is installed. All over India CPIM units and well wishers in social movements have been expressing their concern and also solidarity over these attacks.#StandByTripuraLeft pic.twitter.com/aFrsbYXD8i CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) March 6 2018 Criticising the incident Yechury alleged that the BJP-RSS was unleashing unprecedented violence and arson across Tripura in the aftermath of their victory in the Assembly election. Such attacks clearly demonstrate that the RSS and the BJP rely mainly on unleashing political violence as means to advance their inherent anti-democratic and fascist agenda he said. READ | Tripura BJP workers supporters bulldoze Lenin statue amid cries of Bharat Mata ki jai Yechury also described the Tripura Governor s tweet on the matter as unfortunate . This shows how constitutional posts are being undermined he said. Reflecting on the pulling down of the Lenin statue Roy had tweeted What one democratically elected government can do another democratically elected government can undo. And vice versa. A JCB being used in Belonia to bring down a Lenin statue In the wake of the incident CPM top brass took out a rally in Kolkata in protest against the pulling down of the statue. Yechury along with Politburo members Prakash Karat Brinda Karat Biman Bose M A Baby and CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra walked in the rally from Promode Dasgupta Bhawan to Lenin s statue in Esplande area in the heart of the city. We condemn such fascist onslaught against the CPI(M) cadres and workers in Tripura. We may have lost an election (in Tripura) but that has not given anyone the right to attack and kill our party workers Yechury said. South Tripura SP Ipper Monchak said the driver of the JCB Ashish Pal was arrested on Monday evening and let off on bail. The statue remains where it has fallen. It will be removed by police and given to the municipality for storage Monchak had said. ALSO READ | How Vladimir Lenin influenced Indian revolutionaries Commenting on the incident Tapas Datta CPI(M) s Belonia sub-division secretary said Eyewitnesses told me that after the statue fell its head was dismembered from the body. And then the BJP workers played football with Lenin s head. As a mark of protest against the demolition of Lenin s statue in Tripura on Monday protesters belonging to Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) burned the effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kolkata on Tuesday. (Express Photo by Subham Dutta) Denying the allegations BJP south district secretary Raju Nath said the statute fell because of an overflow of anger . For years there has been resentment against this statue of Lenin. It was built by the municipality and funded by the taxpayers money. Why should the taxpayer have to finance a statue of Lenin? Even if it was a statue of our former CPI(M) chief minister Nripen Chakraborty nobody would have touched it he was one of us and belonged to the country. But what does this foreigner Lenin have to do with our people? said Nath. Political reactions to the incident Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said the government condemns all kinds of violence but added that statues of foreign leaders have no place in India. We condemn all kinds of violence and the state government is handling the situation. But I want to make it clear that statues of foreign leaders are not required in India. I don t want to take anyone s name but I want to say that we have no place for them Ahir said. He added that the country had produced enough icons and ideologues such as Mahatma Gandhi Swami Vivekananda B R Ambedkar Deen Dayal Upadhyaya and Ram Manohar Lohia for people to eulogise. Follow | Tripura violence LIVE: Another Lenin s statue pulled down in Sabroom Union minister Giriraj Singh said people who were oppressed during the 25-year Left rule in Tripura might have brought down a statue of communist icon Lenin in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party or its ideology does not propagate violence but the Left does the BJP leader asserted. So many people were oppressed by the Left. Some of them must have this feeling of revenge Singh said. Defending the act BJP leader Subramanian Swamy called the late Russian leader a terrorist and questioned if the statue of such a person could be installed in India. He also suggested communist leaders to install Lenin s statue inside their party headquarters and worship him if they want. Lenin was a foreigner. He was in a way a terrorist because the number of people he killed there (in Russia) after imposing dictatorship there. And (you) want statue of such a person erected in our country? Swamy asked. Condemning the incident Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that the violence unleashed against CPM workers in Tripura was part of a conspiracy at the national level to target communists. He stated that the BJP-RSS should not think that communists would cease to exist just by pulling down four statues. It is wishful thinking that they could wipe out communists from the country.. the violence is part of a conspiracy at the national level to target communists he said adding that communists were committed to safeguard democracy and secularism even by sacrificing their lives. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee came down heavily on the BJP over the incident. I am against the CPI(M) and Marx or Lenin are not my leaders. I have always protested against the atrocities of the CPI(M). Similarly I will also not accept the BJP s atrocities. Banerjee a known critic of the BJP said If you (BJP) think that because you have come to power in a state (Tripura) you will destroy statues of Marx Lenin or Gandhiji we will not accept it. It is not somebody s job to kill people or pull down the statue of an icon after coming to power in a state. We (TMC) have respect for Gandhiji Netaji Vivekananda Ambedkar and Nazrul. We respect everybody because we believe in communal harmony just like the way we believe in a holistic approach in politics she said. She also said her partymen never took revenge against CPM after the TMC came power in West Bengal. We came to power (in Bengal) after 34 years of atrocities by the Left. Our slogan was Bodla noi bodol chai (we want change not revenge). That is why even after the CPI(M) s atrocities for so many years we have not followed the path of revenge. That is not our nature and that is not democracy she said. Ripples in Tamil Nadu ? A row erupted in Tamil Nadu over BJP leader H Raja s remarks indicating that statues of rationalist leader E V Ramasamy Periyar could be the next to be pulled down after a Lenin statue was razed in Tripura. Facing wrath from several quarters Raja deleted his Facebook post while BJP s state unit distanced itself from the issue saying it was his personal view. Political parties including DMK MDMK and the Left lashed out at Raja a BJP National Secretary with DMK Working President M K Stalin leading the charge seeking his detention under the Goondas Act . Who is Lenin and what is the connection between Lenin and India? What connection India has with Communists? Today Lenin s statue removed in Tripura tomorrow it will be the statue of EV Ramasamy in Tamil Nadu Raja had said in the Tamil post in facebook that had been deleted. Reacting to Raja s statement DMK working president M K Stalin demanded the arrest of Raja under Goondas Act. Nobody has the right to touch Periyar s statue. He has been doing this for long time to incite violence. He should be arrested under Goondas Act and put behind bars Stalin said. With PTI inputs For all the latest India News download Indian Express App IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd SsagarMar 7 2018 at 11:20 pmModi can not send BJP people in Jail. He thinks BJP is free to handle everything in society. Do not know what history BJP has read ever? Did BJP leader Modi or Amit Shah ever go to school or they were part of vandalism in college too? Politics they both created Gujarat riots we all know. what next will the duo create God alone knows?(0)(0) Reply Shriram BapatMar 7 2018 at 11:16 amThey never protested when Veer Savarkar s photo was removed by Mani Aiyyar at Andaman jail where Savarkar the patriot was jailed for a very long period ( kala pani)(0)(18) ReplyS A G PintuMar 7 2018 at 1:04 pmSavarkar was a coward. Also a traitor. He urged HM to form a coalition with Muslim League to share power in then Bengal. Shama Parsad was deputy CM to Suhrawardy. To come out of jail Savarkar gave written undertaking to Britishers not to parti te in freedom movement and kept his words to Brits till last. He encouraged youth in Bengal to Join army under Brits that fought INA. He instigated Godse to kill Mahatma Gandhi. What kind of Veer !!!(10)(0) Reply Swati PMar 7 2018 at 10:17 amThis act of vandalism is not just about razing a statue it is an act of threat and creating fear. It may boomerang as before today mazdoor class may not have even heard of communism which may appeal to them. It is free publicity to Communism. Scores of people already started looking for communist comrade in their areas. Feudals to threaten and mazdoor to support.(4)(1) ReplySSreenathMar 7 2018 at 2:12 pmLeft have a diffe set of rules when it matters them. They have destroyed many statues of their opponents(0)(0) Reply SSkrishnaMar 7 2018 at 9:43 amIt will be a travesty and mockery of justice and humanitarian values to keep on idolising an inhuman dictator like Lenin who took advantage of the struggles and bloodshed of the Marxist followers who pulled down the Tsarist regime only for the cunning Lenin to usurp power at the final moment. Lenin and Stalin are the idols of our deluded Communists. Tripura and the legacy of Lenin are miles apart. History for all its shortcomings will take its dues when the proper time comes. Well done Tripura.(1)(2) Reply SSreenathMar 7 2018 at 7:42 amCan Mr.Yechri tell the world how many times his cadre destroyed the statue of T.P.Chandrasekaran? T.P a communist party member fell apart with Mr.Pinarayi Vijayan. He was later butchered by alleged CPM cadre. A statue erected on his memory was destroyed and his wife Rama was humiliated several times in public. Is this not fascism?(2)(2) Reply Load More Comments
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