In yet another case of harassment of dissenting voices, V. Senthilbalaji, the Minister of Electricity, Prohibition and Excise of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu had sent a legal notice to a prominent YouTuber named Karthik Gopinath who runs the channel ‘Ilaya Bharatham’ (Young India).
Minister Senthilbalaji in his notice claimed that Karthik had posted defamatory content in his channel which apparently has damaged the former’s “reputation” and “lowered his self-esteem among the general public”.
Karthik had posted a video in his channel in which he covered the news of an AIADMK functionary in Karur region joining the DMK in the presence of Minister Senthilabalaji. Citing media reports, he had stated in his video that the ex-AIADMK functionary had joined the DMK owing to threats from the Minister.
This coverage of the incident by Karthik Gopinath has attracted a legal notice sent by the advocate representing the DMK Minister.
In response to this, Karthik has issued a reply to the notice denying the allegations as baseless. He also mentioned that his comments were nothing when compared to the statements made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin about Senthilbalaji (who was in AIADMK at that time) during the 2016 Assembly Election campaign. DMK MP Kanimozhi too had made strong caustic remarks about Senthilbalaji which Karthik pointed out in his reply.
“Your client ‘s claim of commanding a high reputation amongst the people all over the State of Tamil Nadu is pitiably untrue. If he has any such views about himself, our client respects such notion.” the lawyer representing Karthik said in reply to the Senthilbalaji’s legal notice.
It also mentioned that the coverage of AIADMK functionary Nallamuthu joining the DMK at the behest of Senthilbalaji was a fact and was nothing incorrect about it.
The response also conveyed that Karthik would not yield to such strong arm tactics stating that appopriate legal action would be initiated to protect his constitutional rights and ensure ‘fickle minded’ and ‘lean hearts’ have no place in public life.
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