Vijay recalls Karur stampede, accuses police of 'staging drama': 'Meeting should have been cancelled'
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C Joseph Vijay on Friday revisited the painful memories of the 2025 Karur stampede that
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) president C Joseph Vijay on Friday revisited the painful memories of the 2025 Karur stampede that claimed 41 lives, saying "no success can erase the pain caused by the loss of innocent lives." Vijay was addressing a large gathering at Atlas Ground in Karur, where he also distributed job appointment orders to 32 families affected by the stampede that occurred during a TVK rally last year. The actor-turned-politician accused the police of misleading him on the day of the rally and alleged that they had "staged drama" during the incident. "No matter how great a height a man reaches in life, certain pains and wounds in the heart cannot be forgotten. More than anything else, the pain and wound that affected me the most is the Karur incident," Vijay said.
'Police could have cancelled the meeting' He claimed that while the police had previously urged him to cancel a programme in Perambalur over crowd-related concerns, they did not issue a similar advisory before the Karur event, even though it also drew a large crowd. "After finishing the Namakkal meeting, when we were coming to Karur, couldn't the Karur police have alerted us? They could have cancelled the meeting if they felt the crowd could not be controlled. They had every right to do so. Instead, they brought us to the venue. I believed them completely and even thanked the police officers that day. I never imagined such a tragedy would happen," Vijay said. Questioning the handling of the event, Vijay asked: "Who is responsible for all this?
Who gave the orders? People, I ask you, was adequate police protection provided for such a huge crowd?" Memorial announced for victims Vijay announced that TVK would build a memorial in Karur in honour of those who lost their lives. He said the memorial would help future generations remember the incident and prevent such tragedies from being politicised. He said the proposed memorial would also serve as a reminder to future generations about what he described as a conspiracy against his party. He added: “In order to make the coming generation aware of the conspiracy and plot against us, so that no one even thinks of another political conspiracy, we announce that a memorial will be built in Karur on behalf of our TVK.” Vijay also criticised the DMK, alleging that the previous government was involved in corruption and political vendetta.
The BriefWire