Abraham Thomas on Facebook says, “The bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh (AP) was preceded a series of desecration’s and decapitations of statues of prominent Telugu scholars and freedom fighters on Tank Bund in Hyderabad during the million march. Statues of several prominent historical figures hailing from Andhra, including king Krishna Devaraya, Ranik Rudramma Devi, Sri Sri, Joshua, Annamayya, Siddhendra Yogi Prakasham Pantulu were damaged by some of the participants of the Million March.” (sic)
Lenin in Tripura today, Gandhi tomorrow and who else will we bulldoze for crony capitalism and goondaism!?
India must stand up, now or never!
India did not have long to wait. Hours after a statue of communist icon Lenin was pulled down by BJP supporters in South Tripura’s Belonia district, Tamil Nadu BJP leader H Raja and BJYM Vice President SG Suryah threatened to raze the statues of Periyar, the founder of Dravidian movement, across the state. A sophisticated crane was used for the act of bringing down the statue. BJP National General Sectretary and Member of RSS National Executive, Ram Madhav reportedly appreciated the act in a tweet that was later deleted. The governor of Tripura, Tathagata Roy, a ‘pracharak’ of the RSS, sworn to its fascist views, has applauded the act. Days after the Left Front was voted out of power in the state, Tripura CPI(M) district secretary Tapas Datta said the five-feet tall fibre glass statue, which was unveiled by the party’s politburo member Prakash Karat a few months ago, was pulled down allegedly by BJP workers on Monday at College Square in Belonia, about 110 kilometre from Agartala.
In another Facebook post, which was later deleted, Raja called Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy Naicker, commonly known as Periyar, a “caste fanatic”, while Suryah tweeted saying “Can’t wait for the fall of EV Ramasamy statues in Tamil Nadu”. Raja said, “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.”
Outlook reported that, reacting to Raja’s post, DMK working president MK Stalin said the BJP leader should not be allowed to touch Periyar’s statue and if he does so, the state government should jail him.
Periyar was a rationalist, one who believed that caste should be eradicated, and advocated for women’s rights. He is also credited with starting the Self-Respect Movement, in order to achieve a society where disadvantaged castes had equal rights. Both the main political parties in Tamil Nadu, the DMK and the AIADMK owe their origins to this movement. He launched the idea of a separate Dravida Nadu, an idea that was later modified to Tamil Nadu.
In October last year, Raja drew flak for posting a photo of actor Vijay’s voter ID card and official letterhead on Twitter, attributing the success of his film, Mersal, to his being Christian as his full name is C Vijay Joseph. Mersal contained dialogues critical of new national tax GST, introduced by the BJP government at the Centre in July 2017. Another rabid follower has appreciated Raja’s now deleted tweet.
