When actor Rajinikanth visited police firing victims at the Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital (TMCH) on May 30, he encountered possibly the most embarrassing question of his life from one of the youths undergoing treatment at the hospital. The young man asked Mr. Rajinikanth: “Who are you?”.
Following this, the hashtag #NaandhaanpaRajinikanth (I am Rajinikanth) remained on top of Twitter trends for several hours.
The youth, K. Santhosh Raj, 21, a BCom graduate from Pandaarampatti near Thoothukudi, formed the All College Students’ Federation that played an active role in the anti-Sterlite protests ever since the agitation at A. Kumareddiyarpuram bagan. When he was marching towards the District Collectorate on May 22 along with members of the All College Students’ Federation, he came under attack and suffered bleeding head injury and multiple blows during the lathi charge. While undergoing treatment at the TMCH, Mr. Raj has been raising embarrassing questions to VIPs visiting the victims.
Mr. Raj first raised the question to Minister ‘Kadambur’ C. Raju during the latter’s visit to the hospital on May 27. While the Minister was quite confused, his supporters got agitated. Following this bitter experience, officials did not allow reporters to accompany Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam when he met the victims at the TMCH. Mr. Panneerselvam too had to face questions from Mr. Raj, sources at the TMCH claimed.
And, on May 30, Mr. Rajinikanth too faced the question, and he moved on with a smile.
“His [Mr. Raj’s] mother was also delivering a fiery speech when Pandaarampatti residents were staging a dharna in their hamlet against Sterlite Copper and motivated the participants to be tough if the police action becomes intense during the agitation,” said a policeman deployed at the village during the agitation.
Actor Rajinikanth arrives at the Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital on May 30, 2018.
The Rajini Makkal Mandram office-bearers who had brought the family members of eight people killed in the police firing, did not take them to meet the actor at the private resort on the outskirts of Thoothukudi where he met the media. “We were asked to come to the resort at 9 a.m. itself to receive the assistance of ₹2 lakh each to the families to the deceased. But we were not allowed to meet him,” said Snowlin’s aunt Mary, who was waiting at the resort since morning.
Like Ms. Mary, relatives of Kanthiah, Kaliappan, Selvasekar, Jancy and others were also kept waiting, and left the resort in a huff.
