ugc_banner

Rajinikanth condemns attack on Periyar's statue, says 'nothing but barbarism'

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Mar 20, 2018, 12:34 PM IST
main img
File photo of Rajnikanth. Photograph:(Zee News Network)

Rajinikanth returned from his 15-day spiritual tour from the Himalayas on Tuesday and soon after denied any connection with the BJP and also condemned the attack on Periyar's statue. 

While addressing the media on Tuesday, Rajinikanth said: "There have been reports that BJP is behind, but I say God is behind me, after that people are behind me. No matter how many times you ask me this my answer will remain the same."

He further added that the Periya's statue incident was "nothing but barbarism" and that "it shouldn't have happened."

A statue of social reformer and Dravidian movement icon E V Ramasamy, popularly known as "Periyar", was found damaged in a village in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. Unidentified persons cut off the head of the statue using a chisel and placed it near the roundtana, police said.

The statue unveiled by Dravidar Kazhagam leader K Veeramani in 2013 is maintained by the district unit of the party. A large contingent of police has been deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident.

Rajinikanth also addressed the controversy over Rama Rajya Rath Yatra and said: "TN is a secular state, I have full confidence that Police will maintain communal harmony."

Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Ram Rajya Rath Yatra, which started from Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, has reached Tamil Nadu. Reports have said that around 1,500 police personnel were deployed to avoid any unfortunate incident. 

However, VHP’s move to enter Tamil Nadu with Rath Yatra has not gone down well with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The Yatra is first of its kind ‘Rath Yatra’ in the last 28 years and is aimed at seeking public support for construction of “grand” Ram Temple in Ayodhya. 

Since Tamil superstar, Rajinikanth announced his plan to enter politics and said he would float his own party, speculations have been floating around over that of his party name and flag. While there has been no official announcement on the same or the date it would be announced, word is that the party name and flag might be revealed on Tamil New year's day, the 14th of April.