10 Brahmins attacked in Chennai; Assaulters raised ‘long live Periyar’ slogans

A day after statue of Dravidian icon EV Ramasamy, popularly known as Pariyar, was vandalised in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore, miscreants on Wednesday evening assaulted upper-caste Brahmins in the state capital Chennai, police said.

According to Tamil Nadu Police, four persons on motorcycle attacked at least eight Brahmins in Chennai’s Triplicane. “The attackers while assaulting the Brahmins raised ‘Long Live Periyar’ slogans. The assaulters also cut the ‘janaeu (sacred thread worn by brahmins)’ of the victims,” said a police officer.

The local police added that the attackers are members of Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam.

“The four assaulters surrendered with the police and said that they chose the site to attack the Brahmins as it is popular for Parthasarathy and Kapaleeswara temples. They wanted to send a message that they won’t tolerate any kind of disrespect to Periyar,” added a police officer.

Earlier in the day, Madras High Court had directed the Tamil Nadu government to ensure law and order in the state after the razing of Periyar statue on Tuesday evening.

Also read : CPM workers vandalise Jana Sangh founder SP Mukherjee’s statue in Bengal, six people detained

In morning, two petrol bombs were hurled at the Coimbatore BJP office. No one was injured in the incident.

Also read: CPM workers vandalise Jana Sangh founder SP Mukherjee’s statue in Bengal, six people detained

The attack on Brahmins is believed to be retaliatory action after demolition of Periyar statue.

The statue of razed a few hours after BJP national secretary H Raja posted that ‘Periyar’s statues in Tamil Nadu will be pulled down next after Lenin’s in Tripura.”

The post was later deleted and Raja apologised for his comments and said, “Damaging statues of Ramasamy cannot be condomed and I do not support it. The update was made social media managing team and people responsible for the update have been removed.”