Members of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK) on Tuesday petitioned the District Election Officer expressing their protest against the covering of Thanthai Periyar’s statue near Tirupur railway station with black cloth, soon after the election dates were announced. “The present covering of the statue is contempt of court as it should be noted that the Madras High Court had ruled in favour of the petition filed by Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) against the similar covering of Periyar’s statue in the State during 2011 elections and the copy of the court’s order has been attached with the petition we submitted to the District Election Officer,” M. Mugilrasu, district organiser of DVK, told journalists.
Mr. Mugilrasu further pointed out that the then counsel for the Election Commission of India had informed the court that the Election Commission had taken the decision to cover only statues of political leaders who were living. The DVK members said they would proceed with contempt of court proceedings against the district election officials if the cloth cover over Periyar’s statue was not removed within a day.
“Every official should understand that E. V. Ramasamy, who is popularly known as Thanthai Periyar, is a leader respected across the country for his fight against social evils and his stance on women’s rights,” they added.
