After ruckus during recent church visit, TN Police book BJP chief Annamalai for ‘promoting enmity’
Annamalai, as a part of his padayatra, visited Dharmapuri on January 8, and later, entered Our Lady of Lourdes shrine near the Pappireddipatti village.
When he attempted to garland a statue of Mother Mary, Annamalai was stopped by a few Christian youths who claimed that he should not garland the statue and added that it is a holy place. (Photo/X/@annamalai_K) The Tamil Nadu police Thursday registered a case against state BJP president K Annamalai for promoting enmity days after he visited a church to garland a statue of Mother Mary in the Dharmapuri district.
Superintendent of Police of Dharampuri district N Stephen Jesubatham confirmed the development to indianexpress.com.
Annamalai, as a part of his padayatra, visited Dharmapuri on January 8, and later, entered Our Lady of Lourdes shrine near the Pappireddipatti village. When he attempted to garland a statue of Mother Mary, Annamalai was stopped by a few Christian youths who claimed that he should not garland the statue and added that it is a holy place.
The youths also questioned Annamalai over the Union government’s handling of the Manipur violence and said many have lost their lives and several churches have been demolished.
Annamalai, who told them “not to speak like a DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) person”, asked whether they own the church and added that they don’t have the right to stop anyone from entering a church. He also asked them what they would do if he assembled 10,000 people and staged a dharna.
As the situation became tense, the police escorted the protesters away who continued to raise slogans against the BJP and finally Annamalai garlanded the statue in the presence of his supporters and left the spot.
The video of the altercation between Annamalai and the youths was shared widely on social media.
Under these circumstances, based on a complaint filed by one P Karthik, a resident of P Pallipatti who runs a driving school, the Bommidi police have registered a case against Annamalai under 153 (A) (Promoting enmity between two groups), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 505 (2) (statement conducive to public mischief and enmity) of the IPC.
இன்றைய தினம், தருமபுரி மாவட்டம், அரூர் சட்டமன்றத் தொகுதி, பி.பள்ளிப்பட்டியில் அமைந்துள்ள, தூய லூர்து அன்னை திருத்தலத்தில் இறை வழிபாடு செய்ய வாய்ப்பு கிடைத்ததில் மகிழ்ச்சி.
தமிழக மக்கள் அனைவரும் சகோதரத்துவத்துடனும் அமைதியுடனும், நலமுடன் வாழ அன்னையைப் பிரார்த்தித்துக் கொண்டோம். pic.twitter.com/DhNfiGvi5A
— K.Annamalai (மோடியின் குடும்பம்) (@annamalai_k) January 8, 2024
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu BJP vice president Narayanan Tirupathy took to X to condemn the police action against Annamalai.
I strongly condemn the @arivalayam govt for foisting cases against TN BJP president @annamalai_k while he had gone to a Church for worshipping God. Instead of taking action against who tried to stop @annamalai_k from worshipping the god, it’s illegal to have filed cases against…
— Narayanan Thirupathy (@narayanantbjp) January 11, 2024
“I strongly condemn the DMK government for foisting cases against Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai,” he said. Tirupathy added that instead of taking action against those who tried to stop Annamalai from offering prayers, the police are filing illegal cases against him citing law and order issues.
Narayanan further alleged, “Instead of glorifying the gods, the ruling government in Tamil Nadu glorifies its minister Udhayanidhi Stalin who wanted to eradicate the Hindu religion and this is a proof that the DMK is an anti-Hindu party and so is the Dravidian model (of politics).”
Share
