A gesture. An uproar. A clarification. What began as a fleeting gesture in the Assembly has opened an old political wound – one rooted in the dark years of the Emergency and now playing out in the increasingly bitter Vijay-DMK rivalry.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay came under heavy fire from the DMK after a gesture in the State Assembly was interpreted as a swipe at former chief minister MK Stalin’s broken jaw. I would like to make it known that it was not in any way intentional.
Referring to his expression in the Assembly, Vijay said: “My body language was an accidental expression. In a statement on social media, he added: “Therefore, I kindly request that it should not be interpreted as an act intended to hurt anyone’s feelings on a personal level.”
DMK leaders claimed Vijay was mocking party president MK Stalin – a reference that carries a painful history for the former chief minister. It gave the authorities sweeping powers to detain people without trial and was widely used against political opponents of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the Emergency. “Body shaming is condemnable no matter who does it.
Stalin, then in his early 20s and a young wing leader of the DMK, was arrested in early 1976 after the Karunanidhi-led DMK government was dismissed during the Emergency (1975-77). The Maintenance of Internal Security Act, or MISA, was a stringent law enacted in 1971. The law was repealed by the Janata Party government in 1978.
The chief minister himself having done it is an irresponsible act,” Shanmugam said in a statement posted on social media.
