"Nothing offending in it..." Annamalai condemns SG Suryah's arrest

CHENNAI: Reacting to the arrest of Tamil Nadu BJP State Secretary SG Suryah, over his tweet critical of Madurai MP and CPI Councillor, party State president K Annamalai on Saturday said that "there was nothing offending in the tweet".

Annamalai's remarks came after State BJP leader SG Suryah was arrested for his recent tweet on Communist Party of India (CPI) Councillor Viswanathan and Madurai MP Su Venkatesan.Tamil Nadu BJP Leader S G Suryah

Suryah had earlier referred to an incident in which a sanitation worker from Madurai died on the job. He claimed that he was forced to work in faecal water and hence he developed an allergic reaction in his body. In the letter attached to his tweet, Suryah lashed out at Viswanathan for his double standards, for forcing the deceased sanitation worker to resort to manual scavenging despite being aware that it is prohibited by law. In the same tweet, Suryah attacked Madurai MP Venkatesan for his silence.

"Your fake politics of separatism stinks worse than that cesspool, find a way to live as a human being, mate!" a rough translation of his tweet in Tamil read.

Taking note of this, Annamalai said, "There's nothing offending [in the tweet]. Tamil Nadu stands number one in terms of deaths due to manual scavenging. Between 2018-22 the data given in the Parliament says that 58 people died during this time due to manual scavenging. The latest death is in Kandallur where a Communist Councillor has forced a person to get into a ditch and clean it. He [the person] got a lot of allergies and died in the hospital. Our [party] State secretary pointed this out. He also challenged Madurai MP, who talks about social justice, to talk about this incident. What is wrong in it?"

He also said that the arrest and confining of BJP leaders is a batch of honour for them.

"If Tamil Nadu CM believes arresting our leaders to bring fear into their mind, I would say it is a batch of honour for all of us. Because normally people go through this process they become very hardened leaders," Annamalai told ANI.

The Tamil Nadu state secretary was produced before the Madurai court by the police on Saturday amid heavy security.

Meanwhile, the BJP workers also held a protest outside Madurai Judges' quarters in Madurai to condemn the arrest of Suryah. Notably, the episode is drawing strong criticism against DMK from the BJP, which is alleging the ruling party of stifling the voice of the opposition.