Chennai: Actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar, who joined the BJP earlier this month, was confined by the police in Tamil Nadu’s Chengalpattu district today while she was on her way to lead a march against a politician for his comments on ancient Hindu text Manusmriti.
During a recent speech to a group, Thol Thirumavalavan, Cuddalore MP and the chief of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi had asserted that religious text Manusmriti degraded women and that Manu Dharma treats women as sex workers. The politician had urged a prohibition on Manusmriti.Ms. Sundar was on her way to Cuddalore district to lead a protest by the BJP’s women’s wing when she was arrested. The police had rejected permission for the protest in Cuddalore.
“I wouldn’t say detention because I asked the police very clearly whether it is detention or an arrest. They said it is an arrest. They arrested me at the Chengalpattu district entrance and they have kept me in a private place with other party leaders. We’re not even conscious of what is happening outside. We’re not allowed to go out. Nobody is allowed to come in,” Ms. Sundar told. The party has instructed an apology from Mr. Thirumavalavan for his remarks, with its women’s wing calling for protests across Tamil Nadu. The BJP said the comments could initiate a communal conflict.
“What was the necessity for Mr. Thirumavalavan to speak or even refer to this book which was written in the 17th century? Now when the elections are coming up… it is absolutely irrelevant… Mr. Thirumavalavan should be ashamed of himself. Either he should say he will go by the book which was written 3,700 years ago or he should say he follows the constitution of this country written by Dr. Ambedkar,” Khushbu Sundar said.
https://www.ndtv.com/video/news/news/bjp-s-khushbu-sundar-detained-during-protest-amid-manusmriti-remarks-row-564611
Responding to the criticism, Mr. Thirumavalavan said, “I only quoted Manusmriti. Manusmriti has to be banned. The BJP is circulating fake news to trigger clashes.”A case was filed against the VCK chief, which was charged by the opposition DMK, Congress, and other parties that form the Secular Progressive Alliance.
On Monday, BJP and VCK cadres nearly came to slams when Mr. Thirumavalavan visited Erode. When he was on his way to attend a wedding, BJP workers raised slogans against him and urged his apology for his statements. VCK, who was in the outskirts, raised counter slogans and it emerged for a while that a clash may erupt. The police carried away the BJP workers in a van. When the vehicle was about to leave the spot, some VCK workers threw stones on the van, but no one was injured, the police said.
Khushbu Sundar, 50, changed party from the Congress and joined the BJP just months before the Tamil Nadu elections. In her resignation letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, she wrote that she felt “pushed and suppressed” by people who had no connection with ground reality. Tamil Nadu would go for polls in May next year and the BJP, which has a nominal presence in the state, has brought in many news faces ahead of the election. The ruling AIADMK-BJP union suffered a near defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.
Post Your Comments