I condemn Thiru. Rahul Gandhi's arrest to prevent him from meeting the affected farmers. It is thoroughly undemocratic. @OfficeOfRG

DMK working president M.K. Stalin issued a statement on June 8, 2017, strongly condemning the arrest of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi by Madhya Pradesh police authorities. Gandhi had been detained near the border while attempting to visit Mandsaur to meet families of farmers killed in police firing during agrarian protests. Stalin characterized the preventive detention of a prominent national opposition leader as thoroughly undemocratic and an assault on civil liberties.

Stalin pointed out that elected political leaders possess a democratic right to visit affected areas, offer solace to grieving families, and document agrarian distress firsthand. Using police barricades to prevent political engagement reflects administrative insecurity and an authoritarian desire to suppress ground realities. He emphasized that farmers across several Indian states were suffering from acute economic distress, debt burdens, and unremunerative crop prices.

The DMK leader demanded that governments respect the constitutional right to peaceful travel, free expression, and solidarity with struggling farmers. He declared that suppressing political dissent through state violence or arbitrary arrests would never resolve systemic agrarian grievances. Stalin affirmed the DMK's steadfast solidarity with protesting agricultural communities throughout India.