Tamil Nadu: Annamalai And BJP Mahila Karyakartas Detained For Protesting Against DMK Leader Saidai Sadiq’s Sexist Remarks

The Tamil Nadu police detained Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai and hundreds of other BJP members at Valluvar Kottam in Chennai.

They were protesting the lack of action against the misogynic remarks made by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Saidai Sadiq.

In an event to celebrate the election of Chief Minister MK Stalin as the DMK president for the second time, Sadiq had called actors and BJP leaders Khushbu, Gowthami, Namitha and Gayathri Raghuram as ‘items’.

Sadiq’s remarks were strongly condemned by the BJP.

While Kanimozhi, who is the deputy general secretary and head of the Women’s Wing of the DMK apologised to Khushbu on Twitter and said that the party doesn’t condone such remarks, the BJP insisted on stricter action against Sadiq.

Khusbhu had asked if this was 'the new Dravidian model of governance' under CM MK Stalin. Annamalai wrote to Rekha Sharma, the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) to take cognizance of the matter.

When asked about the detention by the police, Annamalai said that the DMK has lost the goodwill of women. He later tweeted saying that it was a black day in democracy and the BJP would not rest until the anarchic DMK is gone.

Sadiq was later booked by the Cyber Wing of the Chennai Police under Sections 153 (provocation with the intention to cause riot), 294(b) (obscene words in a public place), 505(1)(b) and 509 (insulting modesty of women) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Women Harassment Act.