Ruckus broke out at the public hearing meeting today held today (31 January 2023) at Chennai for the building of a pen monument commemorating DMK patriarch Karunanidhi.
The DMK government headed by MK Stalin in August 2021 had proposed to build a massive memorial for his father in Marina Beach, Chennai where he has been laid to rest.
This announcement comes just two weeks after Tamil Nadu Finance Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan released a white paper claiming that the state’s finances are in shambles.
The ‘Kalaignar Karunanidhi Memorial’ is proposed to be spread over 2.21 acres of land with modern pictorial representations of Karunanidhi with a 134 ft tall pen statue at the centre.
For this, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board’s (TNPCB) had called for a public meeting on 31 January 2023 in which representatives from Tamil Nadu’s political parties also participated.
Speaking at the event, Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief Seeman opposed the project saying that it would affect the livelihood of 13 fishing villages. He said that he would break the memorial if it was built in the sea.
MC Munusamy, the president of the Tamil Nadu BJP Fishermen Cell came down heavily questioning if Karunanidhi was greater than sage poet Thiruvalluvar as the proposed height of the memorial is 42 metres while the height of the Thiruvalluvar statue in Kanyakumari is 29 metres.
“A statue for Karunanidhi taller than the statue of Tamil saint Thiruvalluvar?”questions, a man public opinion meeting . Immediately the DMK supporters create a ruckus to try and silence him !#கடலில்பேனா_வேண்டாம் pic.twitter.com/bhkUUkN9wC
— karthik gopinath (@karthikgnath) January 31, 2023
The project has also earned the wrath of local fishermen and environmental activists as well.
With mounting opposition, the DMK cadres started creating ruckus in the hall in an attempt to silence those opposing the project.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.