VCK chief Thol. Thirumavalavan, along with alliance partners, led a human chain demonstration against the RSS and Sangh Parivar groups in Chennai on Tuesday. He said the VCK, Left and other parties will continue to oppose the RSS rally scheduled for November 6.
Mr. Thirumavalavan was accompanied by CPI and CPI(M) leaders R. Mutharasan and K. Balakrishnan, MDMK chief Vaiko, Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani, Tamilaga Valvurimai Katchi president T. Velmurugan and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi president M.H. Jawahirullah, among others, as he raised slogans against the RSS, the BJP and other Sangh Parivar groups near the Periyar statue opposite the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital on Mount Road.
Former Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K.V. Thangkabalu, Congress spokesperson A. Gopanna and party cadre raised slogans against the RSS and the BJP near the Spencer Plaza signal.
Shouting slogans from atop a vehicle, Mr. Thirumavalavan raked up the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the Gujarat riots and the demolition of Babri Masjid.
Addressing the media later, he said the allied parties will continue to oppose the RSS rally planned for November 6 “legally and politically”.
“We have also reiterated (to the State government) that the RSS rally should not be allowed, since it is not a regular organisation. It is a fascist organisation. It is a terror organisation that killed Mahatma Gandhi, tried to Kill Kamaraj, and killed 2,000-3,000 Muslims in Gujarat. It created enmity between Hindus and Muslims by demolishing Babri Masjid. It has no place in Tamil Nadu,” he said.
The human chain was conceived by the VCK, the Left parties and others who are part of the Secular Progressive Alliance, as a counter to the RSS’s announcement that it will hold marches in over 50 locations in Tamil Nadu on October 2 - Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary.
With the VCK and its allies pushing for a competing rally, the State government stepped in and disallowed both rallies, citing law and order concerns.
While Mr. Thirumavalavan accepted the State government’s logic for disallowing the RSS rally, he took exception to the fact that it considered the RSS and VCK rallies on the same scale. The rally led by the VCK-Left and allies was held on October 11, while the RSS rally is likely to take place on November 6.
Mr. Thirumavalavan said the RSS had not faced the kind of opposition it was facing in Tamil Nadu. “This is a dress rehearsal to defeat political conspiracies of the Sangh Parivar. Never before has the RSS faced this kind of opposition, where so many organisations have joined forces against it. Twenty-four political parties and 45 political organisations which do not take part in elections have participated in this rally,” he said.
