Demolition of Lenin’s statue in Tripura is having after-effects in other parts of the country too. BJP leader from Tamil Nadu, H Raja, said on Tuesday that statues of the ‘Dravidian’ leader EVR Ramaswamy, who is perceived to be anti-Brahmin fanatic by many, deserves to suffer the same fate as that of the statue of Lenin in Tripura.
He posted on his Facebook page, “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.”
However, he was forced to delete his tweet after he was trolled viciously for his opinion. Various Dravidian parties have demanded his arrest following the post.
“No one dare touch EVR’s (Periyar) statue. H Raja made those comments to incite violence. He has been repeatedly doing this. He should be arrest and the Goondas Act slapped on him,” said DMK Working President, MK Stalin.
MDMK leader Vaiko went one step further and said, “Whoever touches Periyar’s statues, will have their hands chopped off.” Dalit party VCK leader, Thol Thirumavalavan, said, “Forget about Raja, not even his forefathers would be able to touch Periyar statue.”
H Raja had criticized Periyar severely in the past as well. He had accused Periyar of being anti-Dalit as well as anti-Brahmin. He had said, “From the beginning Periyar had an anti Dalit mindset. It can be seen from the fact that social reformation in the state stopped with the anti-Brahmin movement. That’s why mere statements were issued for atrocities committed against Dalits rather than initiating any concrete measures.”
BJP State Party President has distanced the party from the comments and said the comments were H Raja’s personal opinion.
