VCK suspends dy gen sec Aadhav Arjuna for six months
Chennai (PTI): VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan on Monday announced the suspension of party deputy general secretary, Aadhav Arjuna for six months, days after the latter's 'monarchy' comment aimed at the ruling DMK.
Aadhav Arjuna, the son-in-law of lottery mogul Santiago Martin, is in the eye of a storm for his comment that the the rule of 'monarchy' in Tamil Nadu should be ended, targeting the DMK, with which he was associated ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls.
The suspended deputy general secretary had also recently put forth the demand of share in power, an ideological standpoint of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a key constituent of the DMK-led bloc in Tamil Nadu.
Thirumavalavan said in a statement that Arjuna's functioning affected the party interests and a top level party administrative committee decided to take disciplinary action against him.
At a function here on December 6, that marked the release of the book 'Ellorukkumana Thalaivar Ambedkar,' (Ambedkar, a leader for all) by TVK founder-president, actor Vijay, Arjuna made the 'monarchy' comment.
In the same event, Vijay continued to target the DMK and accused the ruling party of being arrogant, as it has been maintaining that it would win 200 seats out of the total 234 Assembly segments in the 2026 Assembly polls.
Thirumavalavan later told reporters that Arjuna's recent activities led to a situation that could have an impact on the party's reputation and credibility.
Orally, Arjuna had been given instructions to act in sync with party line and since he violated such guidelines, action has been now taken.
The VCK chief said he had, ahead of the book launch event, conveyed to Arjuna to avoid talking politics in the function and confine himself to revolutionary leader Dr Ambedkar and the background to the book.
The deputy general secretary's speech that day violated the advisory and led to controversies, warranting action.
"The six month suspension provides space to him to approach us and give us an explanation," the VCK chief said.
Answering a question, he said there was no pressure from the DMK side on the VCK on the issue concerning Arjuna.
Thirumavalavan said his decision to stay away from the December 6 book release event, in which actor Vijay took part, was an independent choice.
Though there had been no issues with Vijay's party, the TVK, a participation in that event may have provided opportunities to rivals to 'spin stories.'
Hence, Thirumavalavan said, he did not participate in that event, considering party interests.
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SGPC writes to Mann, seeks ban on 'Emergency' in Punjab a day before release
Amritsar, Jan 16 (PTI): The SGPC on Thursday wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking a ban on the release of Kangana Ranaut's movie 'Emergency' saying it "tarnishes" the image of Sikhs and "misrepresents" history.
Actor and BJP MP Ranaut's 'Emergency' is slated to release in cinemas on January 17.
In the letter to Mann, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed strong objection to Ranaut's film.
Dhami said that if the film is released in Punjab, it will spark "outrage and anger" in the Sikh community and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to ban its release in the state.
The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, had earlier also protested the film.
"It has come to our attention that the movie 'Emergency' produced by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is going to be released on 17th January 2025 in cinemas in different cities of Punjab and the tickets have also started to be booked," its letter to Mann read.
Dhami said the SGPC had also protested the release of the movie in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary on November 14 last year.
"But it is sad that the Punjab government has not taken any step till now. If this film is released on January 17, 2025, then it is natural to create outrage and anger in the Sikh world," the current letter read.
Dhami said the SGPC will submit a letter also to all the deputy commissioners in Punjab, seeking a ban on the film in the state.
The SGPC denounced the "character assassination" of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani militant killed in 1984 in a military operation.
"If this film is released in Punjab, we will be forced to strongly oppose it at the state level," Dhami said.
In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the producers of the 'Emergency' film, alleging that it "misrepresented" the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove the objectionable scenes depicting "anti-Sikh" sentiments.
In the notice, the producers of the film, including Kangana Ranaut, were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14 from all public and social media platforms and tender a written apology to the Sikh community.
The SGPC objected to film writing separate letters to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification.
