Chennai: The state government should not permit the proposed installation by Hindu outfits of statues of Nathuram Godse nor the holding of RSS rallies if they wore ‘the uniform with lathis, which is scary’, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi MLA M.H. Jawahirullah told the Assembly. Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam said that the state had taken preventive measures.

Members of the Hindu Mahasabha had announced that in January they would instal statues of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, in 13 places across the state but their efforts had been thwarted with the state government refusing to grant permission.

Subsequently, the outfits wanted to install statues of Godse in their unit offices, with one such effort being stopped in Erode by the district administration.

Several political parties and religious groups had also opposed the Hindu Mahasabha’s idea. Subsequently, the Indian National League (Tada Raheem division) had threatened to instal statues of convict Afzal Guru, implicated in the Parliament attack case, if the Mahasabha was allowed to instal the statues of Godse. The state government is closely monitoring the issue, the CM said.

Responding to another issue raised by Mr Jawahirullah about damage caused to a wall of a dargah in Tiruvarur district recently, Mr Panneerselvam said that the police had thwarted a clash between two groups of Hindus and Muslims. They had booked cases against the miscreants and arrested 15 so far.