Recently in Tripura, the statue of Lenin was bulldozed down with shouts and slogans of “Bharat Matha Ki Jai” ringing the air.
BJP leader H Raja had said that the next statue to be razed down will be Periyar’s Coimbatore.
A day after a statue of Dravidian icon Periyar was vandalized in Vellore district in Tamil Nadu, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s office in Coimbatore was attacked by unidentified miscreants on Wednesday. A petrol bomb was hurled at the office and a police investigation into the matter was underway.
The incident occurred hours after the police arrested two people – a BJP worker and a CPI worker- for allegedly vandalizing the Periyar statue on Tuesday.
READ ALSO: Vladimir Lenin Statue demolished; Violence escalates in Tripura
BJP leader H Raja’s comments on pulling down the statues of the rationalist leader E V Ramasamy “Periyar” had caused a row to erupt.
As the comments in a Facebook post against late Ramasamy, founder of the Dravidian movement, drew condemnation from several political parties in the state, Raja deleted it while BJP’s state unit distanced itself from the issue, saying it was his personal view.
In his social media message, which was removed later, Raja said: “Who is Lenin? What is the connection between him (Lenin) and India? What connection between Communism and India? Lenin’s statue was broken down in Tripura. Today it is Lenin’s statue in Tripura and tomorrow it will be the statue of caste fanatic E.V. Ramasamy.”
He was referring to the pulling down of a statue of communist icon Lenin by some persons using an excavator machine at Belonia in South Tripura district, days after the BJP defeated CPI (M) in the closely fought assembly polls. The CPI(M) has held BJP workers responsible for pulling down the statue of Lenin.
Rationalist Ramasamy or Periyar — as he is respectfully called in Tamil Nadu — is considered as a tall leader of the Dravidian movement. He founded the self-respect movement in the state.
READ ALSO: Periyar’s statue vandalised after BJP leader’s Facebook post
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’. Condemning Raja’s post, Stalin said nobody was qualified to “even touch” a statue of ‘Periyar’.
MDMK leader Vaiko challenged Raja to try and remove Periyar’s statue. Congress spokesperson Khushbu Sundar said even Raja’s shadow cannot touch Periyar’s statue.
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