CHENNAI: The ‘ugly smear campaign’ against the DMK president M K Stalin, triggered b the AIADMK government’s Tamil culture and development minister, Ma. Foi. K. Pandiyarajan that denied Stalin’s detention under ‘MISA’ Act during the Emergency period and that he was arrested for something less holy, has led to a standoff between the ruling AIADMK and the opposition DMK.
While DMK cadre have been staging demonstrations against Ma Foi Pandiyarajan, for his damning remarks against M K Stalin for the past two days, trying to besiege his house in Chennai and staging protests at other places, including burning of effigies of Ma Foi, what came as shocker for the DMK was that someone like Mr. Pandiyarajan could stoop to such low level and make such demeaning remarks.
However, in a magnanimous gesture on Thursday, Mr. Stalin asked his party cadres to call off all protests against Ma Foi Pandiyarajan. “Not only me, but thousands of DMK cadres were jailed during the Emergency for having opposed it, arrested under MISA and put in prisons. There are jail documents to prove this in the Prison department, State Assembly, besides records of the M M Ismail Commission of Enquiry into the prison excesses during the Emergency; and anyone having doubts can peruse them and know the facts,” Mr. Stalin said.
It was extremely unfortunate that Ma Foi Pandiyarajan for political ends was now trying to “twist the facts” of a crucial period in DMK’s history, of events that happened 44 years ago, which is known as an “epoch of sacrifices made by DMK men” to protect and save Indian democracy, Mr. Stalin added.
