Chennai: Political leaders on Tuesday condemned the insult to Tamil savant Tiruvalluvar statue which had been wrapped in plastic sheet and dumped in a park at Haridwar.
DMDK founder Vijayakanth expressed shock over the controversy and said it was a shame to India. He said “Tiruvalluvar is a symbol of Tamil race and an insult to his statue is an insult to the Tamil race”, he said.
MDMK general secretary Vaiko said casteist colour had been added to Tiruvalluvar who had declared that all are equal by birth. Uttarakhand government should understand the sentiments of Tamils and install the statue on the banks of Ganges, he said.
CPI state secretary R. Mutharasan said those who tried to install Tiruvalluvar statue did not make proper arrangements and behaved irresponsibly. They should seek an apology from the people, he said and added that Tiruvalluvar and his Tirukkural would live till the world existed.
Tamil Maanila Congress leader G.K. Vasan said Tirukkural is beyond caste, religion, race, language and region. It had been translated in several languages and his statue could be installed anywhere in the world. There should be no obstructions in installing his statue, he added.
