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Around 35 members of the Sirupanmai Makkal Katchi were arrested in Chennai yesterday when they tried to protest outside composer Ilaiyaraaja’s residence, citing remarks that he had made about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and Christianity. The comments seem to have been made during Ilaiyaraaja’s recent visit to the Google offices in the USA, where he recalled watching a Youtube documentary that had questioned the resurrection of the Christ.

The members of the Sirupanmai Makkal Nala Katchi were detained by the Pondy Bazaar police while attempting to stage a protest outside Ilaiyaraaja’s house in T Nagar. “They did not take permission for the protests. Besides, they did not organise the demonstration in places that have been allotted. Instead, they chose a commercial location,” a police officer is quoted to have said.

A couple of months ago, lyricist Vairamuthu was subject to quite a lot of criticism when he cited the work of an academic scholar that the Hindu saint Andal could have been a devadasi.