Gloves are off in Tamil Nadu. Two days after the Chief Minister’s ‘jaw’ gesture during a speech in the Assembly, which was seen by the DMK as mocking party chief MK Stalin, the former chief minister has hit back.
In a strong rebuttal of the Chief Minister’s gesture, which Vijay later clarified was not intentional, Stalin narrated his experience in prison during the Emergency.
He recalled that he got the jaw injury during “torture” in jail.
“We faced several forms of cruelty in the prison. They put us with lepers. Ten of us were locked up in a small room. We had one urinal in the cell. There was stench all around and we had to sleep there only,” the Chief Minister recalled. That is the history of DMK and I am proud to be part of it. I would like to make it known that it was not in any way intentional. DMK leaders claimed Vijay was mocking party president MK Stalin – a reference that carries a painful history for the former chief minister.
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. Stalin, then in his early 20s and a youth wing leader of the DMK, was arrested in early 1976 after the Karunanidhi-led DMK government was dismissed during the Emergency (1975-77).
Asking Vijay to read the history of Tamil Nadu and the DMK, Stalin said: “This is the history from the days of Annadurai, who you call your inspiration. Referring to his expression in the Assembly, Vijay said: “My body language was an accidental expression.
