TN is training ground for extremists: Pon Radhakrishnan

Chennai: Union minister of state for finance and shipping threw a bombshell alleging that Tamil Nadu has become “a training ground for extremists” and these elements “are plotting terror plans for the next 10-20 years”.

“If you think Tamil Nadu is peaceful, that is not the case. It’s no longer the Eden of peace but has turned into a training ground for extremists. These forces are into long-term plans to unleash terror in the next 10-20 years”, the Union minister said, while addressing a meeting organised by various Hindu outfits and the BJP on Wednesday to pay homage to the 52 killed in the serial blasts that rocked Coimbatore during an election campaign by L.K. Advani on February 14, 1998.

“Naxalites, Maoists, Tamil extremists and Islamic terrorists have joined hands against the administration, which was evident during the jallikkattu agitation last year,” the minister said and cautioned that the state and its people would face grave danger unless steps were taken immediately to address the challenge. He also said it was not known whether this had been brought to the notice of the state government and the police department.

The massive agitation in support of jallikattu at Marina beach in Chennai and elsewhere in the state turned violent on January 23 last year, when the agitators continued to protest despite the promulgation of an ordinance to allow the bull-taming sport.

Minister Radhakrishnan also accused the state government of not permitting him to pay homage to the victims of the 1998 blast victims. Also, the state did not permit the construction of a memorial pillar for the victims, he said.

Later, police briefly detained around 900 activists of various Hindu outfits and the BJP, when they gathered at a short distance from the meeting venue and attempted to pay homage to the blast victims. Meanwhile, a group of Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers performed annual rituals at Perur near Coimbatore to the blast victims.