Steps being taken to release Muslim prisoners: Tamil Nadu CM Stalin

The Tamil Nadu government is waiting for Governor R N Ravi’s nod to release 49 life term prisoners, including 20 Muslims, who have been languishing in jail even after completion of their sentence and has already let free nine prisoners belonging to the community, Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Tuesday.

Stalin was replying to a Special Calling Attention Motion moved by Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami regarding the plight of Muslim prisoners in the state in the Assembly. The Chief Minister utilized the opportunity to take a dig at Palaniswami, seeking to know the reason behind his “special and sudden concern” for Muslims and sought to know the actions taken by his in this regard when the AIADMK was in power.

The parties which supported the motion wanted the Muslim prisoners, who are lodged in various jails for their involvement in several cases including terror attacks, to be released immediately. Stalin said the DMK government constituted a committee on December 22, 2021, under the chairmanship of retired judge N Athinathan to go into the issue of release of prisoners, including terminally ill and aged, who have spent over 20 years in jail.

“The committee submitted its report to the Government on October 28, 2022, and recommended the release of 264 prisoners. Based on that, we chose 48 eligible prisoners, including 20 Muslims, and sent their files to the Governor on August 24, 2023, for his consent. Once the green signal is received from the Governor, we will release all of them,” Stalin said.

He also said after a detailed perusal of files, as many as 335 life prisoners have been released till October 8, 2023, of which nine are Muslims. “There is an attempt to portray that no Muslim prisoner has been released so far. I would like to inform the House that the Government will go by the law on this issue,” Stalin added.

In response to Stalin’s question on what the AIADMK government did for the release of Muslim prisoners, Palaniswami said the release of seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case was possible only because of the efforts taken by his Cabinet. “But they were released only during the DMK government’s tenure,” Stalin said.

Stalin also sought to know whether Palaniswami would lead a delegation to the Governor demanding that he clear the file regarding the release of the prisoners. Hours later, Law Minister S Regupathy wrote to the Governor asking him to give consent at the earliest.

Palaniswami also entered into an argument with Speaker M Appavu for not “allowing him to speak.” However, the Speaker said Palaniswami rose from his chair after he asked another member, M H Jawahirullah, to speak. “I will give a chance once Jawahirullah completes his speech,” the Speaker told Palaniswami, who remained “adamant” and wanted to speak first. Even after Appavu allowed Palaniswami to speak, the latter staged a walkout along with AIADMK members.

After the AIADMK members staged a walkout, Speaker Appavu expressed displeasure at Palaniswami’s behaviour, saying he would leave it to the people to decide who was right.