"Snatch Their Cameras": Journalists Roughed Up At MDMK Chief Vaiko's Event In Tamil Nadu

Journalists covering an MDMK meeting in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district were roughed up by party workers on Wednesday, after veteran leader and party chief Vaiko lashed out at them for filming empty chairs during the event. Vaiko's MP-son, Durai Vaiko, has apologised for the incident at Sattur.

The incident reportedly occurred after a section of the audience walked out mid-meeting for food, prompting media personnel to capture visuals of the half-empty hall.

A video, which NDTV has not independently verified, shows an irate Vaiko shouting at journalists, saying, "You are clicking empty chairs, do you have any intelligence? Why don't you take pictures of the thousand people waiting outside? Snatch their camera and throw the film."

Shortly after the outburst, a group of MDMK workers allegedly confronted and jostled with the journalists. No injuries were reported. Speaking to NDTV, an MDMK functionary denied attacking the journalists, but admitted that "some workers did trouble" them.

Virudhunagar District Police has described the episode as an "altercation" and said they had received no formal complaint so far.

The incident comes at a politically sensitive time for the 80-year-old Vaiko, whose Rajya Sabha term ends this month.

Apologising for the incident, MDMK Principal Secretary Durai Vaiko, has called it "unpleasant" and unprecedented in the party's 31-year history. The Trichy MP, who is part of the DMK alliance, had clarified that some workers had left the hall due to a power cut, and that Vaiko had merely questioned why they were filming empty chairs instead of the thousands gathered outside.