The right wing Sangh Parivar elements are on a statue destroying spree in India. Just hours after Lenin’s statue was toppled in Tripura after BJP’s historic victory there, statue of Dravidian icon and social reformer EVR Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar was vandalised in Tamil Nadu. The vandalisation came after a top BJP national secretary H Raja posted on Facebook
“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”.
The statue of Periyar, located inside the Tirupattur corporation office, was targeted around 9 pm yesterday. The glasses and nose of the statue were damaged.
The police have arrested two men.
The BJP leader, however, deleted the Facebook post after facing huge backlash in Tamil Nadu. DMK working president MK Stalin has demanded the arrest of Mr Raja for his post. The MDMK, CPM and CPI have also demanded action against Mr Raja.
Mr Raja has reportedly said someone else had inadvertently posted it on his page.
Tamil nadu has a vast history of struggles against caste discrimination and also manu order. This vandalism could not have taken place without the support of strong hindutva top leadership. The matter must be probed and Periyar statue should be re- installed with full glory