We must punish AIADMK-BJP responsible for atrocities in Thoothukudi, says Stalin
DMK president MK Stalin on Monday raised the issues of the May 2018 anti-Sterlite protest firing in which 13 people were killed and the June 2020 custodial deaths of father-son duo (R Jayaraj and J Bennicks), both the cases being probed by the CBI
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) attacked the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) over the alleged police atrocities in the Thoothukudi district in its Tamil Nadu assembly election campaign. DMK president MK Stalin on Monday raised the issues of the May 2018 anti-Sterlite protest firing in which 13 people were killed and the June 2020 custodial deaths of father-son duo (R Jayaraj and J Bennicks), both the cases being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Reading out the names of the 13 people who were killed amid the anti-Sterlite protest, including that of 17-year-old Snowlin, Stalin said, “They were peaceful protesters who were marching towards the district administration, demanding that the pollution-causing Sterlite plant be shut and they were shot down like crows,” said Stalin. “As soon as I heard the news, I had come to Thoothukudi and never in my life had I seen such a scene. And we should never ever see that again. The perpetrators have still not been punished. We should teach this government a lesson.”
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Stalin continued to target the BJP-led Centre for allegedly stalling the CBI probe in the case. He said that the one-women commission of Justice Aruna Jagadeesan appointed by chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami has not submitted a report even after three years. “The two regimes have come together for the election. Don’t you want to teach them a lesson?” said Stalin. “When reporters asked the CM (following the firing), he said he just watched it on the news. How can he continue in the post?”
Stalin also recalled how Jayaraj and Bennicks were arrested on charges of keeping their mobile shop open beyond the lockdown timings. Nine policemen were jailed on murder charges and on Monday, the Madurai bench of the Madras high court dismissed the bail please of four of them.
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Stalin lauded the district for standing up for its rights during these two incidents and campaigned for the candidates of DMK and its allies contesting in Thoothukudi’s six assembly constituencies where the AIADMK and DMK have three seats each. Stalin’s sister K Kanimozhi was elected as an MP from Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency in the 2019 elections and has been at the forefront of the protest in the two cases mentioned.
This election, TTV Dhinakaran, the chief ministerial candidate for Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) is also contesting from one of the assembly constituencies of this southern district, Kovilpatti, where he will face AIADMK’s incumbent MLA and information minister Kadambur Raju and CPI (M)’s K Srinivasan who is the DMK ally. Raju won this seat in 2016 assembly elections with a thin margin of 428 votes. Dhinakaran is banking on the support of the Mukkalathor community to which his family, including his aunt VK Sasikala and deputy chief minister O Pannerselvam, belong.