A statue of EV Ramasamy, the rationalist leader and Dravidian movement founder, popularly known as Periyar, was found vandalised Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu on Friday, January 24. It is to be noted that the incident occurred amid uproar over actor Rajnikanth's comments against the social reformer.
Rajnikanth's remarks
On the 50th anniversary of the Tamil magazine Thuglak, Rajnikanth said that in 1971, at Salem, Periyar led a rally in which idols of Ram and Sita were taken out without any clothes on them and the deities also featured a garden of sandals and no news outlet published it.
After the remarks, Dravidian outfits demanded an apology from the actor accusing him of lying and burnt his effigies. They also filed a complaint against the actor. Rajnikanth said whatever he said was true and decided to stand by his statement.
"Whatever I spoke about has become a controversy. I read out from what was printed in Hindu and Outlook. I didn't say anything out of imagination. I'll not apologise for what I said...I have not said anything out of imagination. I'm saying what I have seen and they are saying what they have seen,"
