On Tuesday, locals in Tamil Nadu vandalized a statue of Dravidar Kazhagam founder and social reformer Periyar E. V. Ramaswamy. The incident occurred a few hours after BJP Leader H. Raja tweeted Periyar’s statue should be removed like Vladimir Lenin’s statue in Tripura. The statue of the Russian communist revolutionary Lenin was removed in Tripura after BJP’s shocking victory.
The Periyar statue inside the Tirupattur corporation office was vandalized on Tuesday night. The nose and the glasses were damaged. The police reported the arrest of the accused as one BJP member and another CPI worker. Both the accused were drunk according to the police.
This sudden need to demolish statues came after two Lenin statues were destroyed after BJP’s win in Tripura. The vandalism was done by a group of BJP workers after it was announced that the ruling party got the majority.
The post by H. Raja that caused the ruckus read, “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 E.V.R. Ramasamy.”
But after facing backlash from Tamil Nadu, Raja was forced to delete the post. M. K. Stalin DMK’s working president demanded Mr. Raja be arrested for the post.
Mr. Raja has tried to defend himself by saying someone else posted the status on his page. Tamil Nadu State BJP President Tamilisai Soundararajan has decided to make a statement.
