Chennai: With DMK and other political parties targeting the BJP for being ‘intolerant’ to freedom of expression, following Monday’s incident in Thoothukudi where a student raised slogans looking at BJP president Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan in the airport, party senior and Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan slammed the DMK saying one should not cross the Lakshman rekha in the pretext of freedom of expression.
Defending Dr Tamilisai’s action in preferring a complaint before the airport authority, Mr Radhakrishnan said parties like the DMK have no locus standi to talk about tolerance and democratic rights. “DMK president M. K. Stalin, T. T. V. Dhinakaran (AMMK leader) and several others say complaint should not have been lodged and the student should not have been arrested. So, from tomorrow when these leaders travel in flight, can people go near their ears and shout slogans saying DMK is a fascist party?” Mr. Radhakrishnan asked.
By justifying the student’s (Sohia) wrong deed, are these leaders openly accepting that anybody could approach them and raise slogans denouncing them, the Minister sought to know. “Let the leaders who criticise Tamilisai daringly proclaim that anyone can come near them and raise slogans denouncing them at public places. Everybody knows how the DMK treated a woman inside the Assembly,” Mr Radhakrishnan said and added the complaint was just and it was for the government to take appropriate action.
Speaking in similar vein, party’s MP L. Ganesan said justifying Sophia’s action would not augur well for democracy because this will set a precedence for all political leaders to end up listening to ‘such music.’
Contending that she had done nothing wrong and had only been highly restrained inside the flight and even after alighting on Monday when the research student raised slogans against her, Dr Tamilisai said, referring to the incident in July 2015 that Stalin has no moral right to talk about ‘tolerance’ or ‘public decency’ as he had slapped a man for speaking against him in metro rail. “Who torched a newspaper office?’ she had asked and added anybody in her place would have conducted in a nasty manner.
“It (inside of a flight) is not a public forum....how can you expect me to keep mum when she shouts ‘down with BJP’s fascist government’ looking at me? Is it freedom of expression?” she asked.
