Tamil Nadu Police is following the instruction issued by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to Chief Ministers of the States not to arrest people belonging to the minority communities in criminal cases. Though S Vedantham, the octogenarian founder president of Tamil Nadu Vishwa Hindu Parishad, was assaulted and threatened by a group of Islamist extremists at Chennai on Republic Day, the police have not arrested anybody even after three days.
“I went to Rayapuram, a Chennai suburb, to inaugurate the branch office of the VHP on the Republic Day. A group of Islamist extremists blocked my car, shouted at me and threatened me that they would chop my head,” Vedantham told The Pioneer. He said more than 500 activists of the Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI), an Islamist extremist outfit, had warned the local Hindus not to allow the VBHP to function from the area. “They brought down and tore the flex boards and the saffron flags hoisted in front of the Hindu homes in the street and urinated on the poster of lord Rama. But we stood our ground and inaugurated the branch office,” said Vedantham.
The camera crew of Thanthi TV, a Tamil news channel, which went to the spot to film the event was assaulted. “The video camera was destroyed and the camera man was assaulted by a group of Islamists. News reporters and photographers were asked to keep off the area by the Islamist exrtremists,” said S Velan, senior cameraman working with a news channel in Chennai.
Vedantham said the police know who the attackers are. “But they are following the diktat of the union home minister that no members of the minority community be arrested,” he said.
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa herself has been cautious about certain Islamic gropus in the State. The releasing of the movie Viswaroopam directed by Kamal Haasan was put on hold in Tamil Nadu for almost a month because of threats issued by fundamentalist groups like Tamil Nadu Thoufeek Jama ath. Tuesday saw the SDPI activists numbering 30,000 bringing traffic to a halt in Chennai demanding three per cent reservations for Muslins in State Government service and 10 per cent reservation in Central Government service.