Tamilians can protect Periyar's honour: Kamal Haasan

Chennai: Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan on Wednesday said that the state does not need police deployment to protect E.V. Ramasamy Periyar's statue as Tamilians are self-capable of protecting the honour of the social reformer.

"There is no need to deploy police for protection of Periyar Statue. We Tamilians will protect it," Haasan told reporters.

The newly formed Makkal Needhi Maiam party president further stressed that the statue was demolished to divert the attention from the formation of a Cauvery River Management Board.

"I feel that this issue is just to divert attention from Cauvery issue," Haasan said.

A statue of Dravidar Kazhagam founder and social reformer Periyar E.V. Ramasamy was vandalised in Tamil Nadu's Vellore city on Tuesday evening after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Raja in his now-deleted Facebook Post wrote, "Who is Lenin and what is the connection between Lenin and India? What connection has India with Communists? Lenin's statue has been removed in Tripura. Today it is Lenin's statue in Tripura, tomorrow it will be the statue of caste fanatic EVR Ramasamy."

Following the criticism, the BJP leader has now apologised for the post and blamed his social media team for the comments on Periyar.