CHENNAI: The arrest of DMK youth wing secretary and Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin, which the DMK has termed as an act of “political vendetta”, has once again brought to light Tamil Nadu’s long history of politically contentious arrests.
For nearly five decades, the state has witnessed a recurring cycle of arrests of former chief ministers, former ministers, journalists and activists, with political parties calling the arrests politically motivated.
Soon after the DMK government led by M Karunanidhi was dismissed on January 31, 1976, numerous party members, including M K Stalin, were arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). Later, in October 1977, Karunanidhi and several DMK leaders were arrested for staging black-flag demonstrations against former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Since 1996, allegations of political vendetta have accompanied almost every change of government in TN. The DMK government’s arrest of ex-CM J Jayalalithaa in December 1996 in corruption cases marked the beginning of the phase. She spent about a month in prison.
