News Tamil Nadu

TN BJP Leader SG Suryah Calls Out Kollywood’s Silence Over DMK Govt Slapping Goondas Act On Farmers

November 17, 2023
The Commune

The DMK government in Tamil Nadu took into custody and detained 20 farmers who had been opposing the surrender of their wetlands for the Melma SIPCOT industrial project near Cheyyar in Tiruvannamalai. Hundreds of farmers have been actively resisting the proposed acquisition of approximately 3,000 acres of agricultural wetlands by SIPCOT for it to be leased to private industries.

According to a statement by Arappor Iyakkam, the police forcefully entered the farmers’ homes, arrested and remanded 20 of them to judicial custody based on an FIR filed in August 2023 in the wee hours of 4 November 2023. 

The FIR was reportedly registered when the farmers were participating in a collective walk for a public hearing, during which the police intervened, charging them with unlawful assembly and other sections carrying a maximum penalty of five years.

Arappor Iyakkam head Jayaram Venkatesan also noted that the mainstream media is wrongly reporting the news saying that farmers were arrested when they were protesting on 4 November 2023. However, according to Jayaram, no protest happened on 4 November 2023. Apparently, the farmers were picked up police in the wee hours when they were sleeping based on an FIR filed in August.

The proposed land acquisition poses a threat to the farmers’ livelihoods, as they have been cultivating various crops like paddy, sugarcane, and groundnut on these lands for many years.

On 16 November 2023, The South First reported that the Tiruvannamalai District Collector and District Magistrate detained seven farmers from the district under the Goondas Act for peacefully protesting against the Melma SIPCOT industrial project. The seven farmers, who hail from various villages in Cheyyar and Uthangarai taluks, were part of the group of 20 farmers arrested on 4 November 2023, based on the FIR filed in August. They have been placed in central prisons in Tiruchy, Madurai, Coimbatore, Vellore, Cuddalore, and Palayamkottai.

Silence From Kollywood Artists & TN Media

While the entire Kollywood coterie came out in support of the farmer’s protest of 2020-21, not one of them has come out speaking for these farmers who have been arrested under stringent Goondas Act. Actors like Karthi (brother of actor Suriya) had tweeted in support of the protest.

Even the media channels had gone overboard in their reportage portraying the Modi government as fascists and denouncing the Farm Laws. 

Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party State Secretary SG Suryah called out the duality of the media and Kollywood actors especially Karthi in his X post. He wrote, 

“Media journalists and actors who put 24*7 Breaking News by remixing songs for the agricultural protest that took place somewhere. Karthi How disgraceful is it that fake militants like these refuse to open their mouths about the DMK government’s use of goondas on the farmers who waged a religious struggle for the first time in the history of India? Although the words are harsh, the only question is “Oh! Will the dog survive this fate?”

Tamil Nadu BJP Head Annamalai had earlier lashed out at the DMK government condemning their action.

Subscribe to our channels on Telegram and WhatsApp and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.