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Political Commentator Sumanth Raman Joins The Bandwagon Of Trivializing Petrol-Bomb Attack On TN Guv Residence

October 27, 2023
The Commune

While the news of a petrol bomb attack on Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi’s residence came as a shock to many in the state, media persons and political commentators such as Sumanth Raman have been hell bent on trivialising the matter. It all began here:

TN Police – Chennai City Additional Commissioner

With the Additional Commissioner of the Chennai City Police which comes under the ambit of the Chief Minister, MK Stalin, Prem Anand Sinha gave a statement on the attack to press persons. He said that the bomb did not fall inside the residence but fell on the road, outside the barricade. He said, “It cannot be said that petrol bombs were thrown at the Governor’s House. The bomb fell on the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel road in front of the barricade at the gate of the mansion. Karukka Vinod who threw the petrol bomb was drunk. Further information will be provided after the investigation. There is no security breach at the Governor’s House. It was only because the security was in place that the criminal could be stopped and arrested.”

CCTV footage released by the police indicates that the perpetrator Vinoth walked all the way from Nandanam signal through Saidapet, Little Mount, and reached Raj Bhavan to throw the petrol bombs. It raises the question as to how he could do this under the influence of alcohol. The footage also shows what seems like the police were waiting for him to finish the task and then appeared to apprehend him. That he was able to throw the first bomb indicates there was no one at the barricade.

Additionally, the Raj Bhavan’s official X handle states that the police failed to register the complaint given by them and rather arrested the individual under suo moto charges of vandalism.

Coming to news media, channels like Sun News and alleged fact-checkers like YouTurn also played along to trivialise the matter.

Sun News

News portals which are ultimately the mouthpiece of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government, especially Sun News, were quick to dismiss that the bombs were not hurled “inside” the premises but rather, they fell outside the gate. Critics argue whether the gate does not constitute the residence of the Governor. If not, it is unclear why the police are assigned duty there.

Iyan Karthikeyan – YouTurn

In an attempt to “fact-check” Raj Bhavan’s posts, self-proclaimed fact-checker YouTurn also pushed the same words stated by the Additional Commissioner of Chennai City Police. self-styled ‘fact-checker’ Iyan Karthikeyan who is known for peddling DMK’s propaganda seemingly justified the attack using Additional Commissioner Prem Anand Sinha’s statement saying that “no damage has been caused by the petrol bomb”. He said “How is Governor R.N.Ravi and his Raj Bhavan making exaggerated claims of ‘severe damage to main entrance’?”

Critics are that just because the bombs fell outside the gate, would it not count as an attack on a constitutional position?

Sumanth Raman

Political commentator Sumanth Raman known for making remarks on topics beyond his paygrade also trivialised the incident. He wrote,
“Law and order in the State does not break down when one possibly deranged person hurls two petrol bombs on the road in front of the Raj Bhavan Gate. #PetrolBomb”. When a social media user replied saying “It’s not hurling of the bomb, but the ease of availability of such a bomb that’s the concern.”, Sumanth Raman replied saying, “A petrol bomb is nothing but petrol set alight with some cloth in a bottle and thrown”

Several netizens questioned whether Sumanth Raman would justify a terrorist in the same manner.

Some other reactions include:

In an attempt to save face, Sumanth Raman made another post.

Savukku Shankar

Political commentator Savukku Shankar also played his part in trivialising the attack on the Governor’s residence.

He called the attack on Raj Bhavan a non-issue while targeting the DMK on another murder that happened recently.

In an interview to Red Pix, Savukku Shankar says “this is not a big attack” downplaying the incident while giving a comical take Karukku Vinoth’s liquor habit.

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