CHENNAI: Cadres of Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK Saturday attacked weekly magazine Nakkheeran's office here, while partymen in other parts of the state burnt copies of the publication to protest against its description of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa as a "beef-eater" in the latest issue. AIADMK men assembled outside Nakkheeran's office and shouted slogans against the magazine for tarnishing the image of their leader.
The magazine had described Jayalalithaa as a "beef-eating" person capable of taking on anybody, which in turn infuriated the party cadres.
Some vehicles parked near the magazine office were also damaged and tension prevailed in the area for a long time.
The magazine editor R. Gopal said AIADMK men came in the morning and assaulted the watchman and hurled stones and soda bottles at the office.
He said those having divergent views on the article can resort to legal action which the magazine is ready to face.
Meanwhile, AIADMK's organising secretary and former minister C. Ponnaiyan, in a statement issued here, condemned the magazine's publishers and the editor, saying the article was published to tarnish the image of Jayalalithaa.
He said AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) had never said that Jayalalithaa is a beef eater.
Ponnaiyan said both MGR and Jayalalithaa were not beef eaters.
"Legal action will be taken against the owner, publisher and the editor of the magazine for publishing such a false article," Ponnaiyan said.
An AIDMK cadre said: "Fair comment and criticism are welcome. But irresponsible and false reportage are not allowed in the name of freedom of expression."
Condemning the attack on the magazine office, DMK president M. Karunanidhi said in a statement that such attacks were not acceptable in a democratic country.