CHENNAI: DMK president MK Stalin, Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) president K Veeramani, the CPI, CPM and AMMK were among those who strongly criticised the state government for allegedly denying permission to the DK’s proposed statewide anti-NEET two-wheeler awareness campaign.
In a post on X, Stalin alleged the government is more afraid of protests against NEET and the EWS quota than the BJP-led Union government. Questioning the decision to deny permission at the last minute, he asked why the police were deployed at Periyar Thidal despite the government claiming to follow Periyar’s ideals. He said the DK had always conducted peaceful campaigns in the past and urged the government to immediately allow the campaign.
DK president K Veeramani, in an X post, said the party had applied for permission on July 18, and the director general of police had initially advised the organisation to obtain permission from the local police stations along the route.
However, permission was denied on the day the campaign was scheduled to begin. He said the anti-NEET campaign is a peaceful awareness programme that the DK has been organising since 2010. Similar two-wheeler campaigns had been held in 2017, 2020, 2022 and 2024 without any law and order issues, he said.
Veeramani said the DK could have gone ahead with the campaign despite the ban, but had decided to challenge the order legally first. If legal remedies failed, the organisation would consider proceeding with the campaign, he added.
Earlier in the day, CPM state secretary P Shanmugam and CPI state secretary M Veerapandian said the ban violates the constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression and urged the government to withdraw it immediately.
AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran said denying permission despite prior police clearance violated democratic principles.
