CHENNAI: TVK general secretary (election strategy) Aadhav Arjuna on Friday appealed to the media and the public to understand the party’s silence following the Karur stampede that claimed 41 lives during its campaign event last month. Aadhav, who has been booked for an inflammatory social media post after the incident, returned to Chennai on Friday after attending a sports event in Dehradun.
Responding to criticism that senior TVK functionaries had gone incommunicado, barring a video message from party president Vijay, Aadhav said the party had chosen silence as a mark of respect. “When a family suffers a loss, they observe a mourning period of 16 days. Similarly, our leader and cadres have been mourning with the 41 families who lost their loved ones. During this time, we have avoided responding to political attacks or accusations,” he said.
He added that the party and its leadership have been focused on supporting the affected families. “We have been with them through their grief. Once the mourning period ends, we will speak and reveal the truth,” he said.