Tamil Nadu Member of Parliament (MP) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) president Thol Thirumavalavan met state Director General of Police (DGP) Sylendra Babu on Monday, February 27 to present his concerns against instances of hate speech in the state. Addressing the media after the meeting, Thirumavalavan said, “I have shared some concerns regarding the law and order situation in the state. Specifically, the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) has been speaking in public spaces and on social media in a manner that will instigate violence.” Referring to a speech given by state BJP president K Annamalai at a recent protest in Chennai, the MP added, “He spoke in a manner that could trigger violence and cause panic among the public.”
At a protest against the murder of Prabhu, a soldier from Krishnagiri district, Annamalai had said, “We will help Prabhu’s family. We will be handing over a cheque of Rs 10 lakh immediately to fulfil their needs. We will also take care of the educational expenses of Prabhu’s children. It is our responsibility. Why we are doing this is because we want to send across a message to each and every jawan who is at the border. Even if the government is not there with you, we are with you. You have guns in your hands, loaded with bullets. Modi is there to give you orders, you can open fire. The rest will be taken care of by the Tamil Nadu BJP.”
Thirumavalavan also objected to the threats issued by an ex-army man, Pandian, at the same protest. Pandian had said, “I am saying this with love. All our retired servicemen are experts in planting bombs, shooting, and fighting. We know all of these jobs well but we do not intend on doing them. I am warning the Tamil Nadu government not to make us do these jobs.” Pandian went on to call the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government a “terrorist group” and called for capital punishment for the perpetrators. Police investigation into Prabhu’s murder had revealed that he had been killed by a DMK councillor and his son.
At the press meet, the VCK MP said, “It is apparent that through such speeches they [the BJP] are scheming to destroy law and order in Tamil Nadu. They are constantly working against the state government. They want to create a crisis for the DMK. They want to create public panic. The BJP is working with the intent of politically weaponising all this.” He also said that this is the manner in which the BJP functions in north Indian states, “by hate speech, spreading hate and instigating violence. The BJP, RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and the Sangh Parivar are trying to bring into Tamil Nadu what they do in north Indian states.” Thirumavalavan added that it was because of this that the right-wing was trying to saffronise Thiruvalluvar and Dr BR Ambedkar, and insult Periyar.
“We brought it to the attention of the police that the BJP is spreading panic across the country and demanded that action should be taken against them. We have also asked that the true perpetrators of the Vengavayal issue are found and arrested,” Thirumavalavan also said.