Stalin warns repeat of Marina protest

Coming down heavily on the Modi-led central government at a stir organised by his party against the ban on cattle slaughter, DMK working President MK Stalin said that a situation had arisen where “we should eat only what the Prime Minister desires and civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution are being curtailed”. 

Reiterating that the cattle sale amendment was notified to cover up the failure of three year BJP regime, Stalin recalled the poll promises the BJP had made in 2014 and said that not a single poll promise has been fulfilled. “Three years of BJP rule have passed. There are no schemes or achievements that benefit people. To cover that up and divert the attention of people, the BJP (government) is making such laws,” the Leader of Opposition said wondering if Modi had deposited the amount he had promised, in the account of each citizen after retrieving black money stashed from tax havens abroad, as he had promised ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. 

Also questioning chief minister Edappadi K Palanisamy’s silence on the issue, the DMK working president sought to know why the former had not responded even as his Kerala and West Bengal counterparts had opposed the ban on sale of cattle for slaughter. 

Accusing Modi’s BJP of reducing states to “municipalities” and chief ministers to “municipal chiefs, the former deputy chief minister described Wednesday’s protest as the “first phase” and warned that another Marina revolution would happen if the notification was not withdrawn. State Congress also organized a similar protest on the issue in the city. 

Protest were also staged across the state against the cattle slaughter notification. Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK) staged a protest at Pollachi urging the government to withdraw the ban. They also condemned the attack on the IIT Madras research scholar who had organized a beef fest at the institutions a couple of days ago. They also raised slogans demanding arrest of those who assaulted the student. At Tiruchengode in Namakkal District 20 DVK cadres were arrested for picketing the State Bank of India branch condemning the Union Government’s ban on beef.