Chennai: A Commission of Inquiry into the police firing on anti-Sterlite Copper protestors in Thoothukudi in 2018, has pulled up Tamil film superstar Rajinikanth for not being responsible while speaking on the subject.
The Commission, headed by former judge Justice Aruna Jagadeesan, in its report, said: “A popular actor of the stature of Rajinikanth is not expected to act on the spur of the moment. When he makes a statement to which the gullible public attach significance, he is to be sure of the source of the information. He has made a statement of far reaching consequences and he will do well to verify the correctness of the material on the basis of which such statements are made.”
The report was tabled in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
“Arbitrary, capricious and whimsical statements trotted out by celebrities have a tendency to mislead the public and would create more problems than they solve. Celebrities should act with restraint and with the sense of responsibility. The ipse-dixit of individuals have no place in the public domain and is to be scrupulously avoided more so in the case of film celebrities and those in public life,” Justice Aruna observed.
Rajinikanth, who was back then aspiring to launch his political party, had alleged that there was a total failure of state machinery including intelligence and that the police exceeded their limit and attacked the protestors brutally. Later, he said “anti-social elements had intruded in the [anti-Sterlite] protest march” and they attacked the police, damaged the Collectorate building and set fire to Sterlite staff quarters.
However, when examined by the Commission, Rajinikanth through his counsel, was unable to produce any documents, supporting materials and media reports to substantiate his charge that anti-socials had intruded the protest march. “To a specific question put to him by the Commission in the questionnaire as to whether he had viewed any video footage or CCTV recordings of the procession / incident before making his statement to the media, he would answer in a circuitous fashion meaning thereby that he does not have any materials to form the basis of his comments,” the ex-judge noted in her report.
