Remember that adage about playing with matches? These AIADMK effigy burners should have paid heed

It is not a good time to burn effigies at political protests and you will see why. [caption id=“attachment_2565370” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Screenshot from YouTube video.[/caption] If a Congress protest on 14 December against PM Narendra Modi in Shimla went horribly wrong when some activists ended up burning themselves  while attempting to burn the Modi effigy, another protest organised by the ruling AIADMK on Wednesday went awry and along similar lines. While protesting against DMDK chief Vijayakanth, who had allegedly spat at journalists on Sunday, the veshti (dhoti) of an AIADMK member caught fire while another worker was setting the effigy of Vijayakanth on fire. Fortunately, the protester was able to extinguish the fire quickly and didn’t seem to sustain any serious injury as seen in a video of the incident. What was amusing, however, was the way in which the protesters quickly forgot the mishap and enthusiastically resumed beating the effigy, which was now burning. The fact that the man could have sustained serious burn injuries didn’t seem to bother anybody. Such is the power of ‘inflammatory’ politics in our country. You can watch the video here: