CHENNAI: Desecration of a statue of Periyar EV Ramasamy, the father of Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu, in the temple town of Srirangam in the wee hours of Thursday triggered tension in the state with a history of violence over idols. Protesting the act, allegedly done by activists of Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK), Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) vandalised a Vedic school run by the Kanchi Kamakoti mutt in Salem.
The Periyar statue, which was to be unveiled on Saturday, was ‘beheaded’ in the period intervening the unveiling of a statue of MGR and another of Murasoli Maran in the Parliament House in Delhi. The placement of the statue of Periyar - who paved the way for the self-respect movement in the late 1920s and 30s, breaking idols of gods - in front of the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple has been a matter of contention. Vaishnavites consider it the first of the 108 Tirupati temples.
On a public interest litigation challenging the installation of the statue, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had asked the Thanthai Periyar statue installation committee to get clearance from the government. The government headed by Karunanidhi, an ardent follower of Periyar, had cleared the unveiling ceremony in which a couple of ministers were to participate.
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi told the state Assembly that such acts of vandalism would not be forgiven. “There could be differences of opinions, but such acts cannot be tolerated. The government had allotted the land for the Periyar statue way back in 1973,” he said.
The police, meanwhile, have arrested four people each belonging to the HMK and DK. Four policemen attached to the Srirangam town police station have been suspended for “dereliction of duty”.
Periyar, who founded the Dravidar Kazhagam in 1944 had once reportedly lamented: “I built up the movement breaking idols, but my followers have made an idol of me.” Periyar statues are today a familiar sight at road junctions across Tamil Nadu. There have been several instances of Dalits clashing with Thevars over the statues of Ambedkar and Muthuramalinga Thevar.
