Opposition leaders rail against arrest

But govt. defends police action

The arrest of research scholar Lois Sofia (who was subsequently released on bail) for allegedly raising anti-BJP slogans in the presence of the party’s State unit president, Tamilisai Soundararajan, has evoked strong reactions from the Opposition, while the government has defended the police action.

In a statement, DMK president M.K. Stalin said one had to wonder whether sections of police officers in the State had submitted themselves to ‘saffronisation’, as the arrest had taken place within a week of the Supreme Court observing that “dissent is the safety valve of democracy.”

Pointing out that the police had not taken steps to provide protection to VCK general secretary D. Ravi Kumar, who was reportedly facing a threat from religious fanatics, and had not taken action against actor-politician S. Ve. Shekher and BJP leader H. Raja, the DMK chief described the arrest of Ms. Sofia as a case of “blatant misuse” of authority by the police.

CPI(M) State secretary K. Balakrishnan said the State government was resorting to such steps to “be in the good books” of the Centre.

Dravidar Kazhagam leader K. Veeramani said Ms. Soundararajan could have reached out to the research scholar and convinced her that the views she had expressed were wrong. Alternatively, she could have ignored Ms. Sofia.

AMMK deputy general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran said the episode did not reflect “magnanimity and maturity” on the part of Ms. Soundararajan.

VCK president Thol. Thirumavalavan wondered how an “expression of anguish by a student in a democratic manner” was against the law.

‘A publicity stunt’

Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar decried the actions of the researcher, saying they were carried out with the purpose of “getting publicity through the media”. If someone wanted to express their opinion in favour of or against anyone, they could do so at designated spots after taking permission from the authorities. “If Ms. Sofia’s action is allowed, no leader would be able to travel freely to any airport or railway station. This could even become a security threat to political leaders,” he explained, adding that the police would take action on the complaint filed by the researcher’s father, if there was any substance to it. Makkal Needhi Maiam founder Kamal Haasan tweeted that if raising one’s voice and making criticisms in public were a crime, then politicians too would be criminals liable to be arrested.