Red Paint Smeared Over MGR’s Statue In Chennai, AIADMK Demands Action

Chennai : A bust-level statue of late chief minister of Tamil Nadu and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party founder MG Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, was vandalised with red paint by unknown miscreants in Chennai on Wednesday. The incident took place in Kalingarayan Street near Royapuram area of Chennai, where the statue is situated. Ramalingam, an AIADMK cadre who spotted the paint-smeared statue, immediately informed the police about the act.

Elaborating on the incident, the party cadre from the Royapuram area said, “Every morning, we come here and pay respect to our leader with floral offerings. This morning when we arrived at the spot, we were shocked to see that red paint was splashed over the statue.” Demanding action against the miscreants, Ramalingam added, “This is absolutely disrespectful, and we will not tolerate such things being done to our founder’s statue. We demand that the culprits be identified immediately and action be taken against them.”

After learning about the incident, large number of AIADMK party workers gathered at the location and thronged the Washermanpet police station, demanding immediate action. In fact, party workers also warned the police that if immediate arrests are not made in connection to the incident, they will be forced to stage protests against the vandalism.

The Washermanpet police, who immediately rushed to the spot, secured the statue and gathered CCTV footage from the vicinity to identify the miscreants. A case has been registered and investigation is underway.

This is, however, not the first time that miscreants have vandalised MGR’s statue. Last year, a bust of MGR was found damaged in Thanjavur, wherein MGR’s bust was found removed from the pedestal, sparking strong response from AIADMK members.

Earlier too, statues of prominant leaders have been desecrated in Tamil Nadu. In 2018, a statue of BR Ambedkar wsa smeared with red paint in Tiruvottiyur, Chennai, barely two days after two miscreants vandalised a Periyar statue in TN’s Vellore district, breaking the spectacles and nose of the statue.