As Israeli infantry and armoured cavalcades stormed into Gaza for a deadly ground assault, a crude petrol bomb wrapped Chennai in a pile of smoke. The inebriated man who hurled the incendiary weapon probably didn’t bother much about its origin, dating back to the disintegrated Soviet Union. Nor its potential to become a ‘ticking’ political bomb in Tamil Nadu.
The blackbucks and pythons in Raj Bhavan’s backyard were not scared. But cries of ‘jungle raj’ and a call for an NIA/CBI probe were louder. The major allegation was that the state police ‘diluted’ the attack as mere vandalism, and a fair probe was ‘killed’ even before it began. A three-page complaint said a governor cannot work under the shadow of constant threats and that he is at the receiving end of a barrage of abuse, attack, and assault. Indeed, grave charges by the executive head of the state.
Raj Bhavan’s statement said “some miscreants” armed with petrol bombs attempted to “enter through the main gate,” but “alert sentries” prevented them from entering the complex. The first bomb “burst with a huge sound” and caused “severe damage to the main entrance”. The police spent several hours fact-checking the complaint. With the help of CCTV footage, they clarified that it was a lone attacker. He did not attempt to enter the premises. Not sentries, but the cops posted at the gate nailed him. The petrol bomb did not burst inside, nor did it cause any damage.
Naysayers were quick to dismiss the complaint as a ‘lie bomb’. Outside the heavily barricaded Raj Bhavan, a sprawling 150-acre complex bordering the reserved forest, with the guv’s bungalow located nearly half a km inside, the only goal of the drunk miscreant could have been a quick return ticket to the jail at best. TN BJP chief K Annamalai, who is on a padayatra across the state, squarely blamed it on TN’s deteriorating law and order situation. He said criminals have taken over the streets and that the continuous attacks only leave one to think that the DMK government is sponsoring them.
Has the ruling DMK really lost all credibility and legitimacy, as the BJP blamed? Is it using violence and intimidation to stifle the voice of the people and the opposition?
A controversy that erupted outside the famous Chepauk Stadium early last week may give readers a clue. A police officer’s action — snatching a few Indian flags and allegedly throwing them in a plastic container — when the stadium hosted the Pakistan-Afghanistan World Cup match landed the government in trouble. Annamalai said the DMK should apologise to the people of TN, failing which the BJP will be compelled to protest against the corrupt DMK government for denigrating the sanctity of the Tricolour, adding that Udhayanidhi had problems with the #JaiShriRam chant during the cricket match against Pakistan.
Towards late evening on the same day, Annamalai came up with a heady statement, this time with the hashtag #AntiNationalDMK. “Mourning our country’s independence, burning parts of our constitution, seeking a separate statehood, and issuing threats that the call for independent statehood is still alive has been DMK or its ideological party’s way of not wanting TN integrated with our country...”
The police and government officials clarified that there was no ban on carrying flags and that the police on duty were only asked to watch out for flags and banners with controversial themes. The errant sub-inspector was immediately transferred, and a probe is underway.
As usual, most grouses drown in the ensuing political din. The mighty double-engine opposition by the BJP can, however, claim that it has evicted AIADMK as the main opposition in the state, at least on social media for now. Are recent ‘controversies’ symbolic of the falling standards of political narratives in the state? Who cares. Lotus can merrily bloom without bothering much about the filth beneath it.
Anto T Joseph
Resident Editor, Tamil Nadu
anto@newindianexpress.com
@AntoJoseph