CHENNAI: DMK president M K Stalin on Thursday condemned the reported arrest of Kalaiyarasan, an assistant professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), accusing the TVK led government of intimidating academics and suppressing criticism.

In a statement, Stalin expressed shock over reports that police personnel in plain clothes had taken Kalaiyarasan away in a hired vehicle in the early hours of Wednesday. He alleged that the professor’s fundamental rights had been violated and his mobile phone seized.

Stalin highlighted Kalaiyarasan’s academic credentials, noting that he holds a doctorate in economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University and is among the authors of The Dravidian Model, published by Cambridge University Press. He also said the professor had served on the Union government’s Planning Commission and contributed to the preparation of Tamil Nadu’s economic survey. Kalaiyarasan is also a member of the Tamil Nadu Climate Change Governance Committee, Stalin said.

Questioning the reason for the arrest, the DMK leader asked whether it was linked to the professor’s research on Tamil Nadu’s development under the Dravidian model or his reported criticism of rising prices under the TVK government.

Stalin accused the government of using the police to intimidate academics and critics instead of addressing administrative shortcomings. He also questioned whether the arrest had taken place with the knowledge of the Chief Minister and senior officials.

Describing the alleged action as authoritarian, Stalin demanded that the Tamil Nadu police and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay publicly apologise to Kalaiyarasan for the reported arrest and treatment.

It may be noted that in his complaint to the state police chief on Wednesday Prof Kalaiyarasan has said that he was taken by plain clothed policemen of Shankar Nagar police station from his residence around 5 am alleging that he had posted some defamatory content on a TVK MLA and later dropped him back around 7.45 am after learning it was mistaken identity as he had no Instagram account.