VCK founder Thol. Thirumavalavan met Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at Anna Arivalayam here on Friday over the alleged police excesses at Morur in Salem district against his party workers after they tried to erect the party flag.
CM’s promise
Speaking to reporters later, he said he informed the Chief Minister of the situation at Morur. “Not all but some” police officers were biased against the party. “Casteist forces as well as the police indulged in violence... The VCK protested against the incident in Chennai, Salem and Madurai. Since the Chief Minister wanted to meet [us], we postponed the protest at Salem and Madurai. He promised us that he would look into the matter.”
Mr. Thirumavalavan said he did not expect these long-pending issues to be resolved immediately, but the VCK wanted to bring the problem to the Chief Minister’s attention. “I haven’t insisted that he take action.”
He said, “In Morur, police officers claimed that the PMK or non-Dalits had opposed it [the installation of the VCK flag pole at the bus stand]. It isn’t true. In fact, the bus stand and the panchayat union office have been built on the land given by a Dalit panchayat president in the 1940s. DMK, DMDK, PMK and Vanniyar Sangam flags and actor Vijay’s fan club board have been installed there. When the police said they were going to remove all the flags soon, VCK workers replied that the VCK flag could then be removed along with the others. That’s how the issue snowballed.”
Mr. Thirumavalavan said the police, irrespective of the party in power, opposed the installation of party flag poles at many places. “Recently, we have been told that we need the permission of revenue officials. When we seek their consent, they say that only the police will handle these issues. So the revenue officials and the police pass the buck to prevent us from raising our party flag. As the police act in this manner, the casteist forces also act against our workers. The police didn’t prevent others from congregating at that place. We had explained all this to the Chief Minister,” he said.
He said some police officers refused such requests on the assumption that there would be a problem if the VCK installed its flag poles. “They have the power to maintain law and order but they take decisions with a bias against certain communities and they like certain parties. These are the challenges we face... These issues have existed for long,” he said.
