JOIN USUse personnel to guard varsities: Stalin slams Centre
DMK President M K Stalin on Friday took a subtle dig at the Union Government for withdrawing his Z plus security cover by asking it to “utilize the personnel to protect universities and students from “that perpetrating violence in the name of religion.”
Though Stalin thanked the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that was responsible for his security since 2006, his colleagues in the party saw the Centre’s move as “political vendetta” and part of its design to “take a revenge” on opposition leaders.
“I wholeheartedly thank each and every one of the CRPF personnel for providing security cover for me over the past many years. I urge the Govt to utilize CRPF personnel to protect universities and students from those perpetrating violence in the name of religion,” Stalin wrote on Twitter.
I wholeheartedly thank each and every one of the @crpfindia personnel for providing security cover for me over the past many years.
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) January 10, 2020
I urge the Govt to utilize CRPF personnel to protect universities and students from those perpetrating violence in the name of religion.
Stalin’s statement is a direct reference to the violence in the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi earlier this week in which several students affiliated to Left-wing students’ unions were injured. His half-sister and party Lok Sabha MP from Thoothukudi, Kanimozhi, had visited students from JNU and also took part in a protest organised by Jamia Milia Islamia on Wednesday.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had on Thursday removed the security cover of Stalin and Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam after a threat assessment.
Kanimozhi was the first from the DMK to condemn the Union Government’s move, saying the love and affection of crores of cadre would serve as the “security cordon” for Stalin.
“I lodge my strong protest against the Centre for withdrawing the Z plus security cover provided to my brother and DMK President M K Stalin,” she said.
Former union minister Dayanidhi Maran termed the move as “vendetta politics of the BJP.” “As part of its vendetta politics, the BJP first removed the SPG cover of former prime minister Manmohan Singh and then the security cover of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Now they have withdrawn the security provided to Stalin,” he said.