Governor visits Keezhvenmani amid stir, honours survivor
AMID protests by CPM and Congress functionaries, Governor RN Ravi on Sunday visited Keezhvenmani in the district and interacted with a survivor of the massacre that left at least 44 dead in the village in 1968.
The Left parties, the VCK and the DK expressed their opposition to the governor’s visit by staging a black flag protest even as he was en route to Keezhvenmani.
In Tiruvarur, the party workers, including Nagapattinam MP M Selvaraj, gathered near the railway junction with black flags and raised slogans against the governor for his remarks allegedly belittling the freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi.
They also decried his “obstructionist” attitude regarding various bills passed by the state Assembly and alleged he was visiting the village as an “RSS agent” to further its agenda.
Even as the protesters started to march, the police stopped them. Following this the protesters blocked the road and continued to raise slogans. The police subsequently detained them, including MP Selvaraj, and released them later.
At the entrance arch of Keezhvenmani, CPM’s Nagapattinam secretary V Marimuthu and Nagapattinam Congress Committee’s district president RN Amirtharaja led the protest against the governor. Party workers also protested near Kilvelur bus stand and near Andavar College of Nursing.