Goondas Act on farmers; Annamalai flays DMK govt

CHENNAI: State BJP unit president K Annamalai on Thursday flayed the ruling DMK government for the detention of farmers under the Goondas Act in Tiruvannamalai district.

"Farmers in Tiruvannamalai district who had been protesting peacefully for the last 125 days against the state government's decision to acquire 3,200 acres of agricultural land for the proposed SIPCOT are booked under Goondas Act," said Annamalai in a social media post.

"While we think the DMK government cannot stoop any lower than its current state, they have proved us wrong by detaining farmers under the Goondas Act. We condemn this cowardly act of the DMK government," Annamalai noted.

Further, the saffron party leader said that the state BJP assures full legal support for the families of the detainees to ensure that the protesting farmers are protected from this fascist DMK regime.

Earlier on November 15, the state government informed the Tiruvannamalai district court that the government is in the process of booking seven farmers who staged a sit-in protest against the acquisition of their land for SIPCOT, under the Goondas Act.