Periyar statue vandalised: H Raja apologises for controversial post, sacks Facebook admin

BJP National Secretary H Raja on Wednesday apologized for his controversial Facebook post in which he called for vandalism of Periyar's statue in Tamil Nadu. Subsequently, a statue of social activist and politician EV Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar, was vandalised on Tuesday evening in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

H Raja said, " The post in my FB was done by one of the admins of my page without my permission. As soon as I came to know about it, I deleted the post. We have to respond through statements and opinions, not through violence."

"No intention of hurting anyone. It's not correct to deface the statue of Periyar. I request all of you to maintain peace & carry forward our views on Hinduism in a constructive manner so as to protect values of nationalism on the path shown by Muthuramalinga Thevar, " he said.

Also, he removed the admin who posted the comment about Periyar.

"I have removed that admin who posted the comment about #Periyar and have deleted the post. I totally condemn vandalizing statues and violence. I express heartfelt regret for my Facebook post," said H Raja.

On his Facebook page, he wrote,"Who is Lenin? What is his connection to India? What is the connection of communists to India? Lenin's statue was destroyed in Tripura. Today Lenin's statue, tomorrow Tamil Nadu's EVR Ramaswami's statue."

Raja later deleted the post after facin a severe backlash from all quarters in Tamil Nadu. His post came a day after Russian revolutionary Lenin's statue was demolished in Tripura, allegedly by the BJP members.

OneIndia News