BJP stages protest against DMK for opposing amended Citizenship Act

In an unexpected turn of events, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Tamil Nadu unit staged a protest on Friday (December 20) against the opposition parties in the state who have been demonstrating against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).

The BJP also protested against the “misinformation campaign” held by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its allies in Chennai.

Pon Radhakrishnan, former Union minister for State announced the party’s decision to protest after the DMK confirmed that it would be conducting a rally as a sign of dissent towards the Citizenship Act.

The saffron party’s national secretary H Raja and Radhakrishnan led the protest held at Valluvar Kottam in Chennai. Though the police initially outnumbered the BJP members, the crowds swelled later in the evening.

Also read: Two Madras University students detained in CAA protest

CAA not against the Constitution, says National Secretary H Raja

While addressing the gathering, Raja referred to the DMK and the Congress as “traitors of Tamil people.”

“The DMK had shared power with the Centre during their regime. It was during that period that lakhs of Tamil people were killed in Sri Lanka. They do not have the right to talk about Sri Lankan Tamils and Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu,” Raja said.

He then spoke about actor Rajinikanth’s tweet and said, “Rajinikanth might have been hinting at the fact that there might be violence during the DMK’s protest rally on December 23. So, there is nothing wrong in his tweet. He (Rajinikanth) neither supported it nor opposed it.”

Raja also criticized actor Siddharth for taking part in the protest organised against the CAA.

Without naming anyone, Raja took a dig at Director Bharathiraja, who had slammed him for criticising lyricist and poet Vairamuthu.

Raja also warned college students not to fall prey to the “misinformation being spread by the DMK, Congress and Communist parties.” He explained the “need for the CAA” and claimed that it was not against the Indian Constitution.

Also read: AIADMK voted for CAA as per party whip’s instructions, says TN CM Edappadi

Pon Radhakrishnan warns students to not fall for “DMK’s trap”

Pon Radhakrishnan did not talk much about religious minorities and limited himself to talking about the Sri Lankan Tamils.

Claiming that the DMK had killed several people in the name of anti-Hindi protests, he warned college students to not fall for the DMK’s trap. “You are not the first person to get trapped. You are probably the third generation which is being cheated by the DMK,” he alleged.

Radhakrishnan claimed that no Tamil people would have come to Tamil Nadu and live here as refugees if their party had been in power. “We would have ensured that all Tamil people in Sri Lanka got their birth rights in that country,” he said.

Radhakrishnan alleged that it was the DMK’s hunger strike held by former president late M Karunanidhi that caused the death of LTTE leader Prabhakaran.

Also read: Stalin slams CAA, takes a dig at AIADMK for supporting it

“When Prabhakaran was killed, the Sri Lankan government had known all along that the BJP was going to come to power in India and that it would not allow Prabhakaran to be killed. However, if the Congress had continued and come back to power, Prabhakaran would have been arrested and tortured in prison,” Radhakrishnan claimed.

He also attacked DMK’s MP M Kanimozhi and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol Thirumavalavan for shaking hands with the then Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa. “Though I was in a position to share the stage with them, I did not shake my hand with the blood-stained Mahinda Rajapaksa’s hand,” he said.

He said that it was the BJP’s responsibility to unmask and show the true face of the DMK. “The Prime Minister has already declared Tamil as the oldest language of the country. It is the duty of the BJP cadres to protect Tamil culture and Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Also read: Chennai New College protests fizzle out after denial of nod

Interestingly, AIADMK workers did not turn out for the event, even though the ruling party is in alliance with the BJP.

It may also be recalled that it was at the same location that a protest against the Citizenship Act took place for over five hours.

However, police refused to give permission for the protest to be held and booked around 600 people on charges of unlawful assembly.

On the other hand, the BJP was granted permission to organise a protest in favour of the CAA.