CHENNAI: Director Pa Ranjith, in a social media post on 'X', asked the DMK government how it intends to set right the law and order problem in the state, with BSP state president K Armstrong hacked to death only a few metres away from the Sembium police station. Ranjith also asked the DMK if it truly cared about the Dalit community and its leaders or only if their stand on social justice was for the sake of votes.
He asked if the police had ruled out all other possibilities behind the murder and if they were willing to close the case, taking what those who had been arrested had to say at face value.
After the incident, former city police commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore told reporters that there was no political conspiracy behind the murder and that they suspected it to be retaliatory to avenge the murder of history sheeter ‘Arcot’ Suresh, who was murdered last August.
“Are you unaware that Dalits have been the biggest supporters of your regime, or do you simply not care? I had also cast my vote so that you could come to power. It is with this frustration that I ask you these questions. Is social justice only for votes?” he said.
Ranjith also condemned narratives on social media that painted Armstrong as a rowdy and those who questioned how the murder of a ‘rowdy’ would amount to a reflection of the state’s law and order. “Oppressive classes! When we rebel for the sake of our self-respect, you are calling it rowdyism,” he said.
He said that there appears to be a conspiracy against allowing Armstrong to be buried in Perambur, where he lived and died, and that they were forced to bury him on the outskirts of Pothur, unwillingly.
Responding to the tweet, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai asked Ranjith how he is questioning whether the police have concluded the motive for the murder when the investigation is not yet over and the charge sheet has not been filed.
He blamed Ranjith for his “blatant accusations” against the DMK even when the investigation was ongoing. He asked whether Ranjith’s statement was to confirm the “false image” of DMK being constructed on social media with more vigour after the murder that the party is against the welfare of Dalit communities. He also said the BJP has been trying for a long time to portray DMK as a party against the welfare of Dalits, but it has failed miserably and will continue to fail.
