NEW DELHI: DMK president M K Stalin on Thursday broke his silence over Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s MISA jibe and the “jaw gesture” in the Assembly, recalling the alleged abuse and severe assaults he faced during his detention under the Emergency.Stalin released a nearly 10-minute video message detailing his experience in prison, criticising the TVK government’s welfare delivery and calling for greater decorum in the House.Stalin hit out at Vijay for reviving decades-old corruption allegations based on the Sarkaria Commission report, dismissing them as “politically motivated lies” propagated by those who had long-standing grievances against former chief minister M Karunanidhi.Addressing the controversy over his detention under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency, Stalin acknowledged in the video posted on “X” that Vijay was correct about the history of MISA. He recalled the repression during the Emergency and his own arrest on January 31, 1976, after Karunanidhi protested against the law.Stalin recounted the harsh conditions he faced in prison, including physical abuse that he said led to the death of his colleague Chitti Babu and left him injured.“I realise that some controversies that occurred in the recently concluded Legislative Assembly session have caused anger and dissatisfaction among the Tamil people and our brethren. Since my prison history is a key part of this controversy, I wish to clarify it. Brother Vijay, what you said is true; it is not a lie. During the Emergency, our leader Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) held a massive meeting at Marina Beach to oppose it and harshly criticised the MISA,” Stalin said in the video.He said the then Union government dismissed the DMK government on January 31, 1976, following which police arrived at his Gopalapuram residence to arrest him under MISA.In the video message released amid the political row, Stalin described his broken jaw as an unalterable “brave scar” of history.“I faced many atrocities in prison. They locked us up in a place where leprosy patients were kept. They stuffed 10 people into a small room. In that same room, we all had to relieve ourselves in a single pot. The place was very foul-smelling; that is where we had to sleep. We were not allowed to sleep at night; the police would beat us with batons and trample us with boots,” Stalin said.He further alleged that life-convict inmates were made to brutally beat him and other DMK members.“My dear brother and Member of Parliament Chitti Babu died in prison because of their beatings. My jawbone broke from their hits. You (Vijay) even placed your hand on your jaw to show it, and that is correct. Even today, I have the scars from those beatings. I am not saying I didn’t experience it,” Stalin said, adding that “fictional accounts cannot erase history.”
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
The ruling TVK hit back, demanding proof of Stalin’s detention.Rebutting the DMK president, the TVK IT Wing described his video message as an “engineered attempt” to divert attention from core governance issues. It said Stalin had failed to furnish any official evidence to substantiate his account of his detention under MISA and demanded proof of his imprisonment, accusing him of using the address to protect a “declining political image”.The controversy stems from a heated exchange in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, where Vijay made a hand-to-jaw gesture during his September 7 speech while referring to MISA, drawing sharp criticism from both allies and political rivals.The opposition DMK immediately protested, triggering chaos in the House. On September 8, Vijay clarified that the gesture was unintentional.
About The Author
