Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) Chief Coordinator Seeman strongly condemned the alleged police assault on a female worker of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) during a fire relief operation in Chennai’s Vyasarpadi area. Expressing solidarity with actor-politician Vijay and his party, Seeman criticised the DMK government for what he called “authoritarian” behavior by the Tamil Nadu Police.
The incident occurred on 26 May 2025, when TVK worker Gangavathi, 45, was reportedly kicked in the stomach by police personnel while attempting to assist victims of a massive fire that had gutted several huts in Vyasarpadi’s Mullai Nagar locality. She was later admitted to Stanley Government Hospital for treatment.
TVK Vijay Statement
Condemning the incident, TVK founder Vijay wrote on his X handle, “Several huts were gutted in a fire that broke out in the Mullai Nagar area of Vyasarpadi, Chennai yesterday. Due to the quick response of the fire department, casualties were prevented, and many huts were saved. The people who lost their huts in the fire and were evacuated as a precaution, they were temporarily housed in a nearby school. Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam comrades went to the shelter where the victims of the fire were being housed and provided them with essential items including clothes, blankets, mats and food on a humanitarian basis. The affected people also volunteered to receive them. Seeing this, the police stopped the TVK executives and threatened them to leave. Seeing the police talking and acting in an abusive manner, the district executive committee member of the party Gangavathi (age 45) questioned the police as to why they were preventing her from helping people. At that time, the police, without any mercy, kicked Gangavathi, a district executive committee member of the party, in the stomach and pushed her down. Furthermore, a member of the party women’s wing who went to stop her, the police have grabbed Tamil Selvi’s clothes and dragged her away. The injured members of the organization have been admitted to the Stanley Government Hospital for treatment. Is helping people who have been affected by a fire, lost their homes, lost their essential belongings, and are left destitute a major crime that should be stopped by the police? If the police are saying that they should not meet the affected people in person to comfort them or provide them with essential supplies, what is their real intention? Does Chief Minister Mr. M.K. Stalin accept the actions of the police department in kicking TVK women activists in the stomach with their boots and dragging them by the clothes to the point of tearing them, after they had reasonably questioned the police for stopping them from helping the victims? Has Chief Minister Mr. M.K. Stalin ordered the police force under his control to treat women who help the affected people with boots and kick them and tear their clothes in an inhumane manner? Do we need more proof than this that what is happening in Tamil Nadu right now is not democracy, but a truly fascist regime driven by arrogance of power? I strongly condemn this barbaric anarchic trend of Mr. M.K. Stalin’s government, which is emptily advertising that it is running a government for the people. Appropriate action should be taken against the police officers who engaged in this anarchic act and erred. I have pointed out many times that after coming to power by deceiving women and getting their votes, they are in a unsafe environment from your party members. However, this trend of unleashing anarchy through the police department is unacceptable. This is strongly condemned. The police department has become a puppet department of the ruling party, showing brute force on innocent people and accumulating hatred among the people. The advertising model government led by Mr. M.K. Stalin, which is turning Tamil Nadu into a state that is unsafe for women, is taking away the rights of women and making them fight on the streets. If the anarchy against women continues in this way, I would like to inform you that we will not hesitate to launch a huge public protest and legal battle on behalf of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.”
சென்னை, வியாசர்பாடி, முல்லை நகர்ப் பகுதியில் நேற்று ஏற்பட்ட தீவிபத்தில் பல குடிசைகள் தீக்கிரையாகியுள்ளன. தீயணைப்புத் துறையினர் விரைந்து சென்று செயல்பட்டதால், உயிரிழப்புகள் தடுக்கப்பட்டு, பல குடிசைகள் தப்பியுள்ளன. தீவிபத்தில் குடிசைகளை இழந்த மற்றும் முன்னெச்சரிக்கையாக…
— TVK Vijay (@TVKVijayHQ) May 27, 2025
NTK Seeman Statement
Seeman took to social media to denounce the police action, calling it a “brutal attack on female volunteers” who were merely providing relief materials to those affected by the blaze. He criticised the ruling DMK, Seeman questioned the logic behind preventing other political parties from participating in humanitarian efforts, especially during emergencies. Seeman further accused the DMK of displaying a monopolistic attitude towards disaster relief, suggesting that the ruling party seeks to claim sole credit for welfare efforts even in times of crisis.
On his X handle, he wrote, “The Tamil Nadu Police’s brutal attack on female volunteers who provided relief materials to fire victims is the height of authoritarianism! @CMOTamilnadu @mkstalin It is strongly condemned that the Tamil Nadu Police prevented the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam Party leaders from providing essential goods and food to help the people who lost their huts in the fire that destroyed many huts in the Vyasarpadi and Mullai Nagar areas of Chennai, and that they indiscriminately attacked the women administrators. Is it a national crime to help people affected by a fire? The DMK government’s harsh attack on the police for this is the height of authoritarianism. In a democratic country, the people are the kings? Isn’t politics all about serving the people? When politicians, rulers and government officials are all servants of the people, why did the DMK government’s police attack them, preventing them from helping the people, especially those who were helpless in an unexpected accident, in this difficult time? In fact, it is the primary duty of a good government to provide assistance to the affected people. If a political movement voluntarily comes forward to help the DMK government, it should be applauded and praised, but to stop and attack it is a completely unscrupulous act of cruelty. What kind of mentality is it that even when it comes to helping people affected by disasters, we should do it in our own name, and no one else should help us until we do? Is this the Dravidian model of making everything available to everyone in the name of the DMK? Is this the social justice achieved by the DMK?
Don’t forget that the people are watching all these atrocities of the DMK government!
Therefore, on behalf of the Naam Tamilar Katchi, I urge the Tamil Nadu government to take strict action against the police officers who attacked the TRP women executives, and to take appropriate action to prevent such atrocities that prevent people from even helping them and attack them.
– Senthamizan Seeman
Chief Coordinator
Naam Tamilar Katchi”
தீ விபத்தில் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட மக்களுக்கு உதவிப்பொருட்கள் வழங்கிய தவெக பெண் பொறுப்பாளர்கள் மீது தமிழ்நாடு காவல்துறை கொடுந்தாக்குதல் தொடுத்திருப்பது எதேச்சதிகாரத்தின் உச்சம்!@CMOTamilnadu @mkstalin
சென்னை, வியாசர்பாடி, முல்லை நகர்ப் பகுதியில் நிகழ்ந்த தீவிபத்தில் பல குடிசைகள்… pic.twitter.com/xpPnxen448
— செந்தமிழன் சீமான் (@Seeman4TN) May 28, 2025
He demanded that the Tamil Nadu government take strict action against the police personnel allegedly involved in the assault on the TVK women workers and called for measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
While TVK chief Vijay has publicly condemned the police action and sought answers from Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, senior DMK leader T.K.S. Elangovan defended the police, suggesting that the party workers may have breached protocol at a restricted site. The Chennai Police have yet to issue an official response.
(With inputs from India Today)
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