CHENNAI: DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin has said the party would oppose the “black bill” (the 130th Constitution Amendment Bill) just as it had strongly opposed the CAA and the Waqf Amendment Act.
“They are doing this not only to distract public attention but also to divert the country from the democratic path,” he stated.
Releasing five books written by former DMK minister, the late A Rahman Khan, along with a compilation of his speeches in the state assembly, here on Thursday, Stalin said, “The union home minister introduced this bill in Parliament yesterday (August 20) to steer the country towards autocracy by ousting political opponents from power through the investigative agencies.”
When the DMK was in opposition for about 13 years during M G Ramachandran’s tenure as chief minister, three DMK MLAs – A Rahman Khan, Duraimurugan, and K Subbu – put up a strong resistance against the ruling AIADMK in the assembly.
They were popularly called as ‘idi’ (thunder), ‘minnal’ (lightning), and ‘mazhai’ (rain) by the DMK cadres.
Recalling this, Stalin said, “Through their questions, the trio shook the assembly. They took to the people the subjects that were not allowed to be raised inside the assembly. Large crowds gathered to listen to their public speeches, even buying tickets to attend their meetings.”
He further added, “MGR on several occasions invited Khan to join the AIADMK. But remaining firm in his ideology, Khan never yielded and stood loyal to the DMK.”
While recalling a past incident, Stalin took a dig at the AIADMK. He said, “Once in the assembly, pointing out the AIADMK’s double standards, Khan rose and remarked that since their symbol was the ‘two leaves’, they had double standards. They were unable to respond to this. For the AIADMK, double standards have always been common.”
In his speech, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin criticised the AIADMK by quoting a haiku from one of Khan’s books: ‘Even a clay toy does not bow before a king.’ He said, “Some slaves are doing before New Delhi what even a clay toy would not.”
IUML president K M Kader Mohideen received the first copy of the books released by Stalin at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters.
‘Even a clay toy does not bow before king’
Speaking at the event on Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin criticised the opposition AIADMK by quoting a haiku from one of Rahman Khan’s books: ‘Even a clay toy does not bow before a king.’ He said, “Some slaves are doing before New Delhi what even a clay toy would not.”