During his ‘En Mann En Makkal’ padayatra in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party President K Annamalai encountered a confrontation with young members from a Roman Catholic church in B Pallipatti, Dharmapuri district on 9 January 2024. The youths heckled him and objected to his entry into the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, where he intended to garland the idol.
The situation escalated when the youth raised slogans against him, resulting in a heated exchange of words between the protestors and the state BJP chief.
A video capturing the noisy altercation went viral; the footage showed Annamalai attempting to pacify the agitated youth emphasising that anyone should be allowed to worship at a church.
The gathering of youth pressed Annamalai with questions about the Manipur riots, accusing the BJP of killing Christians. Annamalai clarified that the conflict in Manipur was a fight between two tribes and religion played no role. However, the youth insisted that the BJP, being in power in the state, failed to prevent the killing of Christians. Annamalai urged them not to adopt a stance similar to the DMK and asserted his right to enter the church.
Cheap tactics : Some fringe elements try to portray a picture that minorities are against BJP and Thalaivar Annamalai but Thalaivar prevails and garlands Mary Maatha. Sabka saath sabka vikas 🙏🏻These old rotten techniques won’t work with Thalaivar ! @annamalai_k rocks pic.twitter.com/oByi6GgZzB
— karthik gopinath (@karthikgnath) January 8, 2024
Police intervened to remove the angry youth, facilitating Annamalai’s entry to garland the idol.
How The News Minute Twisted The Issue
A report on the issue by The News Minute seemed to paint a totally contrarian picture aligning with the narrative of the ruling DMK.
For starters, the title of the article says “Protesters in TN stop Annamalai garlanding Mary idol in solidarity with Manipur”. By looking at this, one would assume that Annamalai was unable to garland the Mary statue at the church. However, in reality, police intervened and facilitated the garlanding.
The entire article seems to have been written from a Christian viewpoint – right from explaining the significance of the church “The hilltop shrine is a part of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and considered hugely significant to Christians in the area.” to harping about Manipur – “However, it must be noted that hundreds of churches were attacked in the violence in Manipur, with the Archbishop of Imphal Domnic Lumon alleging in June last year that 249 churches had been destroyed in a span of 36 hours.”
The News Minute also gave legitimacy to the background of the protestors. They wrote “When the protesters continued to argue with Annamalai, he said, “Do not speak like a DMK person.” His comment led to an uproar among the protesters, many of whom replied that they were not even part of the DMK.”
However, it has come to light that the person in question, the youth who was at the forefront of the “protest” is a DMK cadre. Some checks by the BJP IT wing have proved that the protestor has been seen with DMK’s Udhayanidhi Stalin and Anbil Mahesh. He also shared posts with the words “I love DMK”. He is also seen in pictures garlanding Karunanidhi.
இதற்கு பெயர் என்ன தெரியுமா? Tweeps your thoughts ! pic.twitter.com/hK86spwGRs
— karthik gopinath (@karthikgnath) January 9, 2024
Yesterday some people tried to block thalaivar’s entry into a church near Dharmapuri . Now details are emerging that he is a dmk cadre . DMK gets exposed yet again! pic.twitter.com/HKny7vpzyf
— karthik gopinath (@karthikgnath) January 9, 2024
This was not revealed by TNM in its report. Also, contrary to their title, The News Minute article ends with “Despite the protests, Annamalai went on to garland the idol of Mary while many raised slogans against him and the BJP.”
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