Tamil Nadu BJP president says it is unfortunate that police have given religious angle to it
BJP Tamil Nadu President K Annamalai is leading a campaign alleging that a Class XII student of a school run by a Christian missionary in Thanjavur district died by suicide recently “after an attempt to convert”. The police have denied the allegation. In an interview, he said that the direction of the police investigation is flawed. Part:
Despite the hostel warden being arrested by the police, how do you say that the investigation is not fair?
Thanjavur police has kept the matter entangled from the beginning. He took a quick decision. I don’t understand how the police can comment when the investigation is going on. If anyone says that there has been a change of religion, then the police should investigate it. The Investigating Officer, who is supposed to be neutral, should have said that Angle should also be probed. But they are shutting it down from day one.
The School Education Minister and other ministers jumped in and gave a political color to the investigation. BJP was not a party in that.
Was it necessary and appropriate for you as the state president of a national party to release a video when the matter was taken up by the police?
I came to know about the matter only after the girl’s death on 19 January. I talked to the local people and watched the video sent to me. I commented on it only when I was convinced that something was missing. This [the release of the video] It was needed at that time as people saw the matter taking a different turn and spices were added to it.
I thought that as a responsible person I should raise this issue. This was not a political dispute. Subsequent events also testified to the fact that it was only after the BJP raised the issue that there was some sort of pressure, and [High] The Court has held that the video is an admissible evidence, and the Court is trying to admit the parties in the case.
It is alleged that you released an ‘edited’ video…
It was not edited. The investigating officer has submitted to the court that the voice sample was matching and was not tampered with; The flow of the video was not tampered with.
BJP is being accused of defaming Christian educational institutions…
I initially attended a Christian school. So some people have made mistakes. That person should be punished. Minority institutions have played an important role in the development of the state and the country.
If there is any mistake in the matter, it is my duty to rectify it. Chief Minister MK Stalin was misled and was not properly informed about the matter. I believe the intelligence branch has given it a religious colour. It tries to play the role of politicians.
As a former IPS officer, is it fair to criticize the investigation?
The girl did not fully disclose what had happened. It was only after eight days that his mother came to know that he had consumed poison. Then the school authorities came and tried to give money to shift her mother to another hospital. The first accused was the harasser, and he was arrested. Later the issue of religious conversion came up. The problem is that the police are not getting to know the angle of conversion and why the girl was tortured.
Muthuvel, who shot the video, is reportedly not cooperating with the police and has a history of hatred against minorities.
What do I understand by the report of Hindu It is that Muthuvel has submitted the phone and video to the court. This is the highest level of cooperation one can expect from him. He will have to go through the legal process for further questioning.
The girl was allegedly harassed by her stepmother. Do you want him to be questioned too?
Must be examined from all angles. Unfortunately, the police have closed some angles. You have rejected the role of the school. The SP said there was no conversion angle. If he had said that an inquiry would be conducted from all angles, we would not have raised the issue.
The Chief Minister has said that BJP is doing destructive politics by inciting religious sentiments.
The chief minister is upset. I could see this from his statement. The Chief Minister, who was not speaking about the BJP, is speaking about the party today. They know that BJP is benefiting.
Critics say the BJP did not fight for the “Hindu girls of Tamil Nadu” who were subjected to harassment in schools run by non-minorities.
That’s wrong… We are the first to react. BJP protested fiercely when a girl was molested in a Hindu-run school in Coimbatore. Crime is a crime… When a crime is committed, the question of the stature of an institution does not arise. i never said [Thanjavur] School should be closed.
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