According to reports, YouTuber and social media influencer Karthik Gopinath has been arrested by Tamil Nadu police on Monday morning. Karthik is a very popular Tamil YouTuber who manages the Ilaya Bharatham channel. He identifies himself as a nationalist and is well-known for his videos criticising the DMK government in Tamil Nadu.
Karthik Gopinath was reportedly detained for gathering funds for temples in Siruvachur, Perambalur district. According to sources, Karthik Gopinath raised funds for the renovation of several desecrated temples in Siruvachur using the fund-raising app Milaap. Hooligans recently defaced several idols of the temple administered by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department (HR&CE).
However, there has been some debate over the mobilization of funds for a temple under the control of HR&CE management by the YouTuber. Karthik was detained on the morning of May 30 after a police complaint was filed.
K. Annamalai, President of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Tamil Nadu, has criticized the arrest, claiming that the DMK administration in Tamil Nadu is using coercive practices to suppress opponents.
Annamalai wrote, “…The arrest of Shri. @karthikgnath on completely trumped-up charges is condemnable and shows the level to which this Govt will go to silence an uncomfortable voice.”
This is not the first time Tamil Nadu police have targeted people critical of the ruling DMK. Another YouTuber Maridhas was previously arrested by Tamil Nadu cops for making a video regarding Tablighi Jamaat. Maridhas was arrested after a YouTube video he posted linked Tablighi Jamaat members to the spread of coronavirus. An FIR was also lodged against him in June 2020 after he referred to late DMK supremo M Karunanidhi in a video as the “father of corruption.”