Tamil Nadu BJP State Secretary SG Suryah was arrested on the intervening night of 16 and 17 June 2023 allegedly for a statement that he released against Communist MP Su Venkatesan.
In a scathing letter addressed to Madurai MP Su Venkatesan, BJP Tamil Nadu State Secretary SG Suryah had alleged that a hygiene worker died due to allergies in the body after a Communist party ward member named Viswanathan forced him to clean the manhole.
“The deceased is a scheduled caste brother! Where’s your red flag! Where is your fighting spirit? Where are your passionate words? If you are against the ruling BJP government, you will come forward immediately. Where have you gone now? Did you sneak out? Why doesn’t your red flag fly against your fellow comrades? Or won’t your red flag take to the streets and fight in support of the Scheduled Caste brothers? Your fake politics draped in red flag stinks worse than the manhole. Find a way to live as a human being, my friend.”, Suryah had written in the statement.
Suryah was arrested from his home at T. Nagar, Chennai in the presence of his ailing grandfather Ranganathan who is more than 98 years old.
S G Suryah @SuryahSG has been arrested by tn police ! pic.twitter.com/BhplbLBI3c
— karthik gopinath (@karthikgnath) June 16, 2023
Condemning the arrest SG Suryah, BJP Tamil Nadu President K. Annamalai lashed out at the MK Stalin-led DMK government saying that it was turning Tamil Nadu into a lawless state.
“His only mistake was to expose the nasty double standards of the communists, allies of DMK.”, Annamalai wrote in a tweet condemning Suryah’s arrest.
He further added “Using state machinery to curtail free speech & getting jittery for the slightest criticism is unbecoming of a democratically elected leader and, indeed, are signs of an autocratic leader in the making. Drawing inspiration from autocrats, TN CM Thiru MK Stalin is turning the state into a lawless jungle. These arrests will not deter“.
The arrest of @BJP4TamilNadu State Secretary Thiru @SuryahSG avl is highly condemnable. His only mistake was to expose the nasty double standards of the communists, allies of DMK.
Using state machinery to curtail free speech & getting jittery for the slightest criticism is…
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) June 17, 2023
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