MK Stalin demands probe into desecration

CHENNAI: Expressing deep anguish and pain at the desecration of a statue of Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar at Pillaiyarpatti near Thanjavur on Monday, the DMK President said such vandalism and disfiguring was highly condemnable.

Speaking to reporters here after visiting his Kolathur constituency in the city, Mr. Stalin demanded an appropriate enquiry into the incident and called for nabbing the culprits at the earliest and taking action against them as per the Law.

"The attack on the statue of Thiruvalluvar near Thanjavur is a shameful act and it is outright condemnable," the DMK leader said. Referring to the BJP publicizing a photo of the poet in social network on Sunday, portraying him in saffron robes and with ashes smeared on his forehead in a bid to give religious tinge to him, Stalin said, "doubts have arisen in the minds of the people whether that has any link with the desecration of Thiruvalluvar statue in the wee hours of today."
On allegations of phone-tapping of important and prominent personalities in the country, Mr. Stalin said all political parties including the DMK have condemned it. "The Centre has promised action, let us see what happens," the DMK leader added.

Explaining the circumstances under which the DMK general council was meeting here on November 10, Stalin charged the BJP with a ‘cultural assault’ on the Tamils by using Tamil and a universal poetic work like ‘Thirukural’ to suit its communal agenda.