Motorcycle-borne assailants, alleged to be members of a fringe group named Hindu Sena, hurled crude bombs at the office of Puthiya Thalaimurai, a Tamil TV channel in Chennai in the early hours of Thursday. Though the bombs, packed in tiffin boxes, fell inside the compound of the TV channel and exploded, no causality has been reported.
The attack is believed to be a fallout between a Hindu outfit and the channel over the telecast of a debate on whether Hindu women should continue the practice of wearing Mangalasutra. The channel owned by Pachamuthu, who was an ally of the BJP in the 2014 Assembly election is known for its pro-lTTE leanings.
Two persons, said to be office-bearers of the Hindu Sena, surrendered to the police later in the day. Media organisations in Chennai and the remaining parts of Tamil Nadu staged demonstrations all over the State to protest against the attack on freedom of expression.
A group of Hindu Munnani activists staged a demonstration in front of the channel office to protest against the telecast of the discussion which they claim is against Indian culture. There was an allegation by the channel employees that a cameraman working with the channel was manhandled by the Hindu Munnani workers though the organisation denied the charge.
“It is a blatant lie. The channel authorities are trying to portray us in bad light which they have been doing since its launch. Now what they are doing is to make false allegations against Hindu Munnani” said Ram Gopalan, the octogenarian convenor of the organisation.
BJP State chief Tamilisai Soundararajan came down heavily on the attack on the channel office. She said neither the BJP nor related organisations were involved in the attack.