The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the State government, represented by Home Secretary, as well as the Director-General of Police (DGP) to take all steps to maintain law and order and peace across the State. It also wanted them to prevent untoward incidents that were being reported in large numbers following Bharatiya Janata Party leader H. Raja’s tweet on pulling down statues of rationalist Periyar.
Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose passed the orders on a public interest litigation petition moved urgently by advocate A.P. Suryaprakasam. The 65-year-old lawyer made a mention about the tweet and the consequent violent incidents reported from various parts of the State before the first Division Bench and obtained permission from the Chief Justice for filing as well as hearing of the case, as an urgent matter, on the same day.
In his affidavit, the petitioner said the BJP leader had, in his tweet, referred to pulling down of Communist leader T. Lenin’s statue in Tripura where his party had won the Assembly elections recently and asserted that the day was not far when the statues of Periyar in Tamil Nadu would also be pulled down. This resulted in hurling of stones on Periyar’s statue in Tirupattur in Vellore district. In retaliation, petrol bombs were hurled on BJP’s office in Coimbatore.
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Further, claiming that some miscreants had snapped the sacred thread worn by a brahmin in Chennai, the petitioner said that largescale protests had been organised against Mr. Raja across the State and the situation had become volatile especially when thousands of children were writing their Plus-Two examinations.