Senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan has been arrested by the Chennai police for conducting a signature campaign in support of the three-language policy without prior permission.
Tamilisai and her supporters had launched a campaign to collect signatures from the public, advocating for the three-language policy. However, the police intervened, stating that the protest did not have the necessary authorization. Despite Tamilisai’s claims that they had obtained permission, the police proceeded with the arrest, leading to a heated exchange between the BJP leader and law enforcement officials.
The situation escalated as BJP members raised slogans condemning the police action, creating tension at the protest site. The arrest has sparked political controversy, with party members criticizing the government’s stance on language policies and freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai has strongly condemned the arrest of senior BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan, who was detained by the police in Chennai for conducting a signature campaign in support of the National Education Policy (NEP) and the three-language formula.
Taking to social media platform X, Annamalai accused the DMK government of hypocrisy, stating that the party has commercialized the Tamil language for 60 years while allowing private schools to follow the three-language policy. He claimed that CM M.K. Stalin is afraid of the growing public support for the policy and is using police action to suppress democratic protests.
“The DMK’s double standards have been exposed. The Chief Minister is shaken by the rising support for the three-language policy, which is why his government is resorting to undemocratic arrests,” Annamalai wrote.
He further challenged Stalin, asking how many BJP members the government could “illegally detain” for supporting a policy that ensures quality education and multilingual learning opportunities for underprivileged children in government schools.
“This arrest will not scare Tamil Nadu BJP members. We will take this message to every household in the state. How many people can you unlawfully arrest, Chief Minister?” he questioned.
Annamalai also pointed out that the NEP provides free access to quality education and multiple language-learning opportunities for children of even DMK’s grassroots workers, asking why the ruling party was attempting to block such an initiative