Chennai: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today condemned the act of desecrating a statue of Dravidian stalwart ‘Periyar’ E V Ramasamy by throwing saffron paint on it at Sundarapuram in Coimbatore.
“No amount of hate can ever deface a giant”, he tweeted. Earlier on Friday, saffron paint was splashed over the statue. Tension gripped the textile city after the incident.
Though most of the saffron paint was washed away in rain, police personnel and supporters of Periyar cleaned the remaining portion after which cops wearing PPE equipment were deployed as security.
Similarly, security was also provided to six more Periyar statues in the city and that of Dr B R Ambedkar as a precautionary measure.
As the news spread, more than 20 cadres of DMK, MDMK, Dravidar Kazhagam and Thanthai Periyar Dravdar Kazhagam (TPDK) gathered in front of the statue and staged a protest demonstration demanding arrest of the culprits.