Union Minister of State for Finance Pon. Radhakrishnan has warned the State Government against releasing the Coimbatore bomb blast case convicts.
Speaking at a function organised here at R.S. Puram to mark the 20th anniversary of the bomb blast, he said if the Government were to release the convicts, it would be the beginning of the end of the Government.
During the birth centenary celebrations of former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran, a few, demanded the release of the convicts, who were sentenced to life. Life sentence did not mean 20 years but the entire life, he said
The Minister said that by planting bombs in Coimbatore in 1998, the extremists had slowed down the city’s growth, which should have been as developed as Bengaluru by now.
The State Government had not permitted the construction of a memorial for the victims. It should do so before the next anniversary, he demanded.
Coir Board Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan accused both the ruling AIADMK and the DMK of being the same when it came to vote bank politics and demanding the release of bomb blast convicts.
RSS’ zonal coordinator Suresh Kumar urged the Hindus to stand united and demanded that a memorial be built at the earliest.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s public relations officer Lakshmi Narayanan said there was a conspirancy under way against Hindusim, the latest of which was to give a separate identity to Hinduism and Tamil and pit one against the other.
The Coimbatore City Police later removed the 926 protesters. The Minister and the Coir Board Chairman did not court arrest.
