TN: Stunt master Kanal Kannan arrested for his remarks on atheist Periyar statue standing outside Ranganathar temple

Kanal Kannan, a well-known stunt master, actor and activist has been arrested for his remarks on Periyar EV Ramasamy after a members of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam lodged a complaint against him at the DGP office in Chennai in the first week of August.

His comments at the closing ceremony of a campaign to “Reclaim the rights of Hindus” organised by the Hindu Munnani in Chennai questioned the very existence of a statue of the atheist, anti-Hindu demagogue Periyar EV Ramasamy on the way to the Srirangam Ranganathar temple “The day when the statue of the man who said there is no God in front of the temple in Srirangam is broken, is the day of Hindu uprising,” he had stated.

While he did not explicitly mention Periyar’s name, racist outfits like Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam and proteges of the “father of the Dravidian movement” took on the stunts man, lodging several complaints all over Tamil Nadu.

Even the two most prominent Dravidian parties DMK and AIDMK didn’t miss the condemnation bandwagon. AIADMK leader D. Jayakumar said that those who defame leaders like ‘Periyar’, Anna, MGR and Amma should be dealt with an iron hand. He said that the AIADMK would’ve dealt such persons strongly had the party been in power.

BJP Tamil Nadu President K. Annamalai had come out in support of Kanal Kannan stating that it is unacceptable to have a statue on the way to a temple that says “There is no God and those who believe in God are fools”. He added that the statue can be kept elsewhere but not adjacent to the temple.

Hindu Munnani head Kadeswara Subramaniam called Kannan’s arrest an attack on free speech of Hindus by the DMK government. He also pointed out the shameless bias when it comes to respecting sensitivity of other faiths by pointing out the cases of U2 Brutus ‘Minor’ who had abused Hindu God Lord Shiva and Christian Pastor Jagath Gasper where he had instigated Muslims to ask for a separate land.

Kanal Kannan, who is also a Hindu Munnani functionary, secretary of Munnani’s art and culture wing is getting full backing from his party leadership. “Demonstration will be held across Tamil Nadu at 11 AM tomorrow to condemn the dictatorial trend of the Tamil Nadu government. The continued anti-Hindu discriminatory attitude of the Tamil Nadu government is creating great anger in the minds of the people. This should be stopped.”, Hindu Munnani head assured.

Kannan’s speech was not limited to only the godless rationalist but it touched upon the rights of Hindus, the pride of Hinduism and the challenges faced from proselytism.

“Islamic fundamentalist ideology is to divide nations through proselytism and terrorism. The campaign tour will not end today. From now on, we have to intensify campaigning from house to house.”

“Being Hindu is a matter of pride. Earlier, countries were conquered through sword and war. Today they are capturing nations through religious conversion.”

While Kanal Kannan’s bail is now rejected and he languishes in police custody, the underlying message is clear: BJP is no longer taken lightly Dravidian Bastion of Tamil Nadu. In the noisy world of politics it’s important to decipher on what and whom is the noise around.