PMK founder S. Ramadoss on Saturday said the violence that was unleashed in Coimbatore should not be allowed to stall the city’s economic progress.
Stating that Coimbatore’s image as the ‘Manchester of South India’ had taken a beating after the 1998 bomb blasts and subsequent riots, he said that the city cannot withstand another riot.
In a statement here, Dr. Ramadoss condemned the murder of Hindu Munnani leader Sasikumar that triggered the communal violence. “The perpetrators of the heinous crime must be brought to book. But, the violence unleashed following the murder cannot be justified,” he said.
Perpetrators of the crime deserved punishment and not the public. “We cannot deny that the lethargic attitude of the police was the primary reason for the situation going out of control,” Dr. Ramadoss alleged.
When attacks against Hindu Munnani cadre unfolded twice this month in Vellore, Hosur and Dindigul, the police should have tightened security. The department also failed to take precautionary measures after the Hindu Munnani said it would call for a bandh. The police should have at least provided security to places of worship, Dr. Ramadoss said.
