Ponparappi: DMK reacts cautiously to VCK protest

Apart from avoiding a mention of PMK in its critique of the violence unleashed against the scheduled castes there, the principal opposition party has also attempted to make sure that its name was not dragged into the controversial issue.

The DMK has taken extraordinary precautions in handling the alleged attack on Dalits at Ponparappi in Ariyalur. Apart from avoiding a mention of PMK in its critique of the violence unleashed against the scheduled castes there, the principal opposition party has also attempted to make sure that its name was not dragged into the controversial issue.

So much so that DMK organising secretary and Rajya Sabha MP RS Bharati on Monday cautioned that the party would seek legal remedy against those elements spreading false reports that his party was organising an agitation against an intermediate caste on Wednesday in connection with Ponparappi violence.

Bharati also lodged a complaint with city police commissioner as soon as it was brought to the party’s notice that a WhatsApp message bearing the image of DMK president MK Stalin and VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan was doing the rounds on the issue. The message allegedly claimed that the DMK and VCK were organising an agitation against the community accused of attacking Dalits at Ariyalur. Though the ‘message’ was not offensive by existing political standards and it had only sought to criticise the hardliners, the principal opposition party, critics felt, has safely distanced from the message and the issue, ostensibly, to avoid antagonising the intermediate castes in northern parts of the state.

When asked, Bharati told DT Next, “The WhatsApp message carrying our leader (Stalin) and VCK leader’s image says the agitation would be organised against Vanniyars. We are not against any community. Such messages were being floated by some people to spread falsehood about our party. We are against the violence. Our leader has issued a statement against the attacks.” He quickly added that the party spokesperson TKS Elangovan would attend the agitation organised by the VCK on April 24.

Asked why they had even avoided a mention of PMK in their condemnation of the attack on Dalits, Bharati said that it would be misconstrued as a statement against the intermediate community and hence the guarded statement. The justification has fueled rumours about the DMK not being all that comfortable with the VCK being a part of the electoral alliance.

It was not uncommon to find reports suggesting that the DMK had even instructed the VCK leaders to confine themselves to their constituency and surroundings during the campaign. The reports stood vindicated as an otherwise whirlwind campaigner like Thirumavalavan stayed put in Chidambaram, Villupuram and a couple of Lok Sabha seats ahead of April 18 elections.