Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin Announces Statewide Black Flag Protest Against Centre’s Proposed Delimitation Law

Chennai: Setting the tone for a direct protest against the Centre’s proposed delimitation law, DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on Wednesday announced a black flag protest in the State on Thursday.

Describing the proposed amendment on delimitation a “conspiracy” and a “black law”, Stalin, who convened an urgent virtual meeting of his party MPs and district secretaries, urged the people to hoist black flags at their homes and public place to register their protest.

“We will hoist black flags in our homes to express our protest and opposition to the amendment to be introduced in Parliament — a black law,” he said accusing the BJP, of leading India into a dark period. “Let me warn you again, the delimitation cannot be based solely on population. This black law must not be enacted. It is the single demand of eight crore Tamils. Let us transcend political barriers and raise our voice for the rights of the State. Tamil Nadu will fight and win. Let us win unitedly,” he said in a video message.

Arguing that this development reinforced his argument that the upcoming Assembly election was a fight between “Tamil Nadu and New Delhi”, he charged the BJP does not want Tamil Nadu to prosper, nor does it want the representatives of Tamil Nadu to be heard in Parliament. “It is introducing an amendment to give shape to this conspiracy. How can we accept a conspiracy as law?” he asked.

According to him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was reducing the southern States and their people to the status of secondary citizens. “The time has come for us to tell the BJP in Delhi who the Tamil people are. The time has come to show the opposition of every family to the BJP, which seeks to strangulate the voice of Tamil Nadu,” he said.

Stalin felt the south was being punished and its political rights snatched for controlling population growth. “Nothing could be more cruel than this,” he said, adding, “They are bringing in an amendment to suppress the voice of Tamil Nadu in Parliament. It will create a disparity in the number of MPs representing the northern and southern States.”

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Separately, actor-political C Joseph Vijay said the delimitation exercise was a biased action. “If this Bill is passed, the representation of southern States in lawmaking related to language, culture, and State rights, as well as in the formulation of Union government policies, will diminish, while that of northern States will increase. As a result, the voices and demands of the people of southern States, particularly Tamil Nadu, which has adhered to the Union government’s directives, may not be adequately heard in Parliament,” he said in a statement on X.