In his first-ever public protest, demanding justice for custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu under the DMK government of MK Stalin, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder president and actor Vijay on Sunday asked the Chief Minister why he was taking shelter under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which he termed a handmaiden of the RSS and BJP.
The massive protest demonstration in Chennai was to press for a High-Court monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the recent custody death of Ajith Kumar of Sivaganga district, 25th since the DMK came to power in 2021. The state government had transferred the investigation into the case to the CBI.
“When the Sathankulam custodial death of Jayaraj and Benix, in 2020, was handed over to the CBI, you (Stalin) had termed it shameful. Now, you have entrusted the Ajith Kumar case to the CBI. The same CBI is the handmaiden of the RSS and BJP. Why are you hiding behind it since we are pressing for a court-monitored SIT?” Vijay said, addressing the large gathering.
Explaining the rationale for a court-monitored SIT, he said in the sensational Anna University rape case, in which a DMK sympathiser was found guilty, it was the intervention of the High Court, which constituted an SIT, that rendered speedy justice. “If Sathankulam is a shame, Ajith Kumar’s case too is? From the Anna University case to Ajith Kumar’s case, it is the court which had stepped in to question the government. If the court has to intervene in all such cases, why then are you running the government, and what for? Why then do we need a Chief Minister?” he said.
On the Chief Minister expressing sorry to the mother and brother of Ajith Kumar and extending compensation to the family, Vijay asked the Chief Minister to say ‘sorry’ to all the families of the 24 victims of lock-up deaths. “The maximum response we receive from the government is ‘sorry ma’, an untoward incident has happened. 24 people have died under police custody under your rule. Have you apologised to all of them? Please do apologise and provide compensation.”
With thousands of party workers converging on Sivananda Salai, close to the Marina seafront, Vijay, dressed in a black T-shirt and holding a placard “No sorry, but Justice”, shared the stage with some of the families of custodial victims. The police had listed 20 conditions to grant permission for the rally, and the TVK had moved the High Court to secure permission.