Take warnings on terror camps seriously: Ponnar

To a pointed question on whether the law and order situation was raised to exert political pressure on the AIADMK government since state governments had been dismissed in the past based on such allegations, the minister strongly denied that he was speaking for politics and asserted that he raised it as it was a serious issue. 

Referring to the denial by deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam that the Union Minister’s statement was a blatant lie, Pon Radhakrishnan said, “When a cat closes its eyes, it thinks that the whole world has gone dark.” The central agencies were identifying the location of terrorists and arresting them, he said and asked why state intelligence agencies were unable to take such action. The style and operations of terrorists had changed and it was not easy to spot them. Radhakrishnan recalled that he had warned about the presence of terrorists during the pro-jallikattu protests and the state government too admitted it. 

Though college students, youth and the public gathered on their own, terrorist outfits made use of the protests, he charged. The state government should find out about the operations of terrorist camps and take action based on the report, he said. “I am not raising it for political reasons, but warnings are necessary.” The Union minister was reiterating the charge after Panneerselvam strongly refuted the charges and called it a blatant lie. Radhakrishnan had first raised the matter when he was addressing a press meet in Nagercoil.