In a video, condemning BJP's
H Raja
's
Facebook post,
Sathyaraj says that Periyar lives in the hearts of the people and that nobody can remove him from there. It is to be noted that the versatile actor, who himself is a rationalist, played the role of Periyar, in the movie titled 'Periyar' directed by
Gnana Rajasekaran in 2007.
The Facebook page of H Raja, National Secretary of the BJP, carried a post on Tuesday which celebrated the fall of
Lenin
's statue and warned that Periyar's would be next.
In the video, the actor, dressed in black, says, "I condemn the demolition of comrade and revolutionary Lenin's statue in Tripura. I ask that the Tamil Nadu government take legal action against H Raja who said that Periyar's statue in Tamil Nadu will also be demolished. Periyar is not a statue, not a name, not a body, not a mortal made of blood, flesh, and bones. Periyar is a philosophy. He is an ideology created for the freedom of the working classes, for the freedom of women, for abolishing superstition. He does not merely live as a statue, he lives in our hearts. I want to tell you that you cannot remove the Periyar who lives in our hearts with any position, power, or army. If you tell us the time and date, the followers of Periyar are ready to accept your challenge. H Raja must apologise, the Tamil Nadu government must take legal action against him."
Following outrage, H Raja claimed that he had not posted the statement and that one of the admins of the page had done so. The post was deleted and on Wednesday, H Raja expressed regret for the statements.
Interestingly, actor turned politician
Khushbu, who played
Maniammai
in the film also condemned H
Raja's post.