Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) has called an audio clip that has been doing the rounds as malicious and fabricated. The audio clip has a voice that the BJP has alleged belongs to PTR. The man in the audio clip can be heard saying that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin and his son-in-law Sabareesan had amassed Rs 30,000 crores in a year. Reacting to the clip, in a statement PTR said, “I am forced to react at this juncture because one social media post has now been re- broadcast to lamentable proportions: it has been repeated and amplified by unscrupulous political players, and I'm distressed to find that traditional media, the fourth pillar of democracy, are disseminating such fabricated, malicious third-hand information (an article, about the comments of someone, about the alleged audio, about an alleged conversation with an unknown person).”
PTR also attached two images to his press statement and said that they were publicly available technical analysis of the clip which showed “it is not authentic”.
My statement on the 26-second malicious fabricated audio clip pic.twitter.com/KM85dogIgh
— Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (@ptrmadurai) April 22, 2023
The minister claimed that the clip was an attempt to portray him as a whistleblower against his own party, the DMK. “Having failed at painting me as a villain in the public sphere, there seems to be a change of strategy: to paint me as a lone crusader, a reluctant whistle-blower, a pseudo-martyr. I want to reiterate here that whatever I am, and whatever I have done in public life is because of my leader DMK President and Honourable Chief Minister MK Stalin and no malicious attempts to divide us will ever succeed,”he said.
He also said he was distressed at the media for broadcasting the clip without verification. “The clip has been repeated and amplified by unscrupulous political players, and I'm distressed to find that traditional media, the fourth pillar of democracy, are disseminating such fabricated, malicious third-hand information (an article, about the comments of someone, about the alleged audio, about an alleged conversation with an unknown person)”, he said.
He also warned that similar clips may emerge in the future. “With the ability to create fabricated and/or machine-generated clips using advanced technology that is easily accessible, we should not be surprised to see more audio and even video clips in the coming days and months with ever-more malicious content.” He however added in the statement that he usually refrained from opting for a legal recourse as it is time-consuming.
PTR ended his statement saying that he will continue to ignore slander against him but warned of legal action if slander ‘crosses the threshold of maximum tolerance’.
“If such slander to cross the threshold of maximum tolerance, I will be forced to take legal action, even though I realise that it will take months to prosecute, and such action will provide further publicity to outright lies and deception; and hence the long-term benefits may be outweighed by the interim costs of unwarranted publicity,” he said.
Immediately after PTR published his statement, BJP Tamil Nadu President Annamalai responded rubbishing the technical analysis and said no one would believe the defense other than DMK supporters. The BJP leader also questioned as to what is stopping the Finance Minister from calling for an 'independent forensic analysis' of the audio clip.
State FM Thiru @ptrmadurai read through the half-baked defences in social media made by DMK IT Wing for two days, prepared it as a statement & has put it out.
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) April 22, 2023
Relying upon the fake audio analysis done by @arivalayam party’s IT Wing’s dimwits is used as a defence by a State FM… https://t.co/EBvjVEpRGr
Meanwhile, the BJP on April 21 held a press conference in Delhi and sought a probe against the DMK first family members and alleged that the family members have accumulated illegal wealth abroad using dubious companies.
One is duty bound to reprioritise their activities when their responsibilities change
My portfolios in the state cabinet do not allow me the luxury, energy, or bandwidth to continuously engage with Social Media, and to post rebuttals to the outrageous mudslinging that occurs there. I believe that focussing on those areas where one can garner maximum impact and bring about the greatest improvement is the mark of a conscientious public servant. It was for this reason that shortly after realising (as a first-time Minster), the full scope of the many responsibilities the Hon. Chief Minister had allocated me, I voluntarily resigned as the Secretary of the DMK IT Wing, which I had headed from its very inception in June 2017.
From 20 March 2023, I've been entirely involved and dedicated to the budget session. At the exact time a 26-second malicious fabricated audio clip was posted, I was presenting the Demands for Grants for my four departments during an evening session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The landmark Finance Appropriation Bill for Rs. 4,13,639 crores was passed on the 21" of April, after the legislature had cleared the demands for grants of 55 departments. On Saturday the 22nd, I processed all the files back-logged due to the budget, and there no files pending till date.
One's values should not change because of one's role (opposition vs. in power)
I'm a strong proponent of the right to free speech, which is vital in any democratic country. I have never filed a police complaint, let alone a defamation suit, for personal attacks on me. The only time I filed an FIR (as an opposition MLA) was when there were patently malicious and easily-disprovable slanderous statements about my deceased ancestors. Even in that instance, I only preferred the police complaint as a deterrent, I have not pursued the case through to actual prosecution till today. As a politician who trusts in the good judgement of the people, I have formed the philosophy that offering rebuttals to propaganda in today's post-truth social media is like providing oxygen to a dangerous fire.
Several allegations have been made against me on social media in these last two years. From relatively minor accusations like being high-handed, to being obstructionist, to being incompetent to do my job, to very serious charges like being corrupt indirectly through others, and finally to being personally corrupt (e.g. collecting 1% for every file I sign). As consistency is the hallmark of good character, I have never reacted to any one of these accusations.
Why I am making an exception in this case
Now, having failed at painting me as a villain in the public sphere, there seems to be a change of strategy: to paint me as a lone crusader, a reluctant whistle-blower, a pseudo-martyr. I want to reiterate here that whatever I am, and whatever I have done in public life is because of my leader DMK President and Honourable Chief Minister MK Stalin and no malicious attempts to divide us will ever succeed.
So I am forced to react at this juncture because one social media post has now been re- broadcast to lamentable proportions: it has been repeated and amplified by unscrupulous political players, and I'm distressed to find that traditional media, the fourth pillar of democracy, are disseminating such fabricated, malicious third-hand information (an article, about the comments of someone, about the alleged audio, about an alleged conversation with an unknown person). Please note that publicly available technical analysis of the alleged clip (2 examples attached) clearly shows it is not authentic.
I wish to conclude with two points:
1. With the ability to create fabricated and/or machine-generated clips using advanced technology that is easily accessible, we should not be surprised to see more audio and even video clips in the coming days and months with ever-more malicious content. I have already re-tweeted an example from the famous movie "The Great Escape" on my handle @ptrmadurai.
2. I urge responsible politicians, and the traditional media which ought to function as an upholder of democracy, to only make allegations with, or report on, first-hand information, or at least authenticated and validated second-hand information from known sources. The traction gained by re-broadcasting publicly discredited third-hand click-bait may cater well to the financial viability of online platforms, but it corrodes the stature of the traditional media in a democracy. Such diversions help no one and only hinder our ability to have meaningful public conversations on important topics that impact the lives of millions of people.
This shall be my only statement regarding these recent developments. I will go back to ignoring such malicious slander. Of course were such slander to cross the threshold of maximum tolerance, I will be forced to take legal action, even though I realise that it will take months to prosecute, and such action will provide further publicity to outright lies and deception; and hence the long-term benefits may be outweighed by the interim costs of unwarranted publicity.
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