CHENNAI: Coming down heavily on those who draped a saffron shawl over the statue of late leader MG Ramachandran in Puducherry, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday urged Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy to take expeditious steps to bring to book the anti-social elements responsible for this incident.
"This happened in the land where great spiritual leader Sri Aurobindo and poet Bharathidasan lived. The miscreants who were involved in this crime should be identified soon and be made known to society. I request Puducherry Chief Minister to take speedy action in this regard," said Palaniswami in a statement here.
Without referring to the recent developments relating to the Karuppar Koottam issue, the Chief Minister said hurting the sentiments of others in the guise of freedom of speech is contrary to human decency. Tamils will never accept the evil designs of a few who are planning to threaten the unity and integrity of our country where people speak in unison on their identity as Indians despite having differences in language, race, religion and caste.
Palaniswami said, "Desecrating or damaging the statues of leaders who served society pains us. Working towards making others accept our ideals is the highest principle; not only that, respecting the sentiments of the people, as well as contrary views too, should be the highest principle.”
After the Karuppar Koottam issue hogged the limelight, a Periyar statue was desecrated in Coimbatore by splashing saffron paint on it. Most political parties had condemned it. On Thursday night, AIADMK coordinator and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam condemned the draping of a saffron shawl on the MGR statue in Puducherry in strong terms.