COIMBATORE: The ruling DMK and its alliance partners staged a demonstration in Tirupur on Tuesday to protest against the Union government’s alleged inaction to save industries following the 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods by US President Donald Trump.
The protestors blamed the Union government for ignoring the concerns of various industries, including textiles and sought its intervention to resolve the issue at the earliest. They expressed apprehensions that lakhs of workers may lose jobs if the situation does not return to normalcy.
VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan said that India maintains trade links with Russia for the benefit of Ambani, whose Reliance Industries makes huge money by selling the refined oil to European countries.
“It is not Adani and Ambani, but it’s our small-scale industries, workers, lorry drivers, and poor people who get affected because of the US tariffs. Everyone should unite to save the country from the fascist forces,” he said.
Tiruchengodu MLA ER Eswaran said 3,000 firms may face closure and five lakh families may come to the streets in Tirupur due to the imposition of the tariffs. “Across India, 15 crore people would lose their jobs,” he said.
DMK’s deputy general secretary A Raja, former minister V Senthilbalaji, MDMK chief Vaiko, CPI MP K Subbarayan, CPM’s Su Venkatesan and other party leaders took part in the protest.