Periyar statue vandalised in Vellore, 2 arrested

A statue of social activist and politician EV Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar, was on Tuesday evening vandalised in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.

According to reports, two men, who were allegedly drunk, damaged the glasses and the nose of the statue. Both men have been arrested.

This comes hours after BJP national secretary H Raja, on his Facebook page, 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 facing 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.

DMK working president MK Stalin had demanded the arrest of H Raja following his controversial post. BJP state president Tamilisai Soundararajan had distanced the party from Raja's controversial remarks. Raja had reportedly said someone else had inadvertently posted it on his page.

Erode Venkata Ramasamy, commonly known as Periyar, was a social activist, and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He propagated the principles of rationalism, self-respect, women's rights and eradication of caste. He opposed the exploitation and marginalisation of the non-Brahmin Dravidian people.

OneIndia News