Khushbu said that she has filed a complaint with the National Commission for Women against the online harassment, allegedly by DMK cadres.
Published Aug 01, 2025 | 12:15 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 01, 2025 | 12:15 PM
Khushbu Sundar. (X)
Synopsis: Actor-politician Khushbu Sundar, who was recently named one of the vice presidents of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit, has been a target of online harassment following her criticism of the DMK. She slammed the state government and Chief Minister MK Stalin for not acting on their promises regarding women’s safety.
Actor-politician Khushbu Sundar was named one of the vice presidents of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit on 30 July, during the recent reshuffle of office-bearers, after the appointment of Nainar Nagendran as its president. In a subsequent interview with a private television channel, she said that the ruling DMK must be defeated in the upcoming state Assembly elections.
Following her remark, Khushbu became the target of an online smear campaign. She was portrayed in a derogatory manner across various social media platforms, particularly by DMK-supporting X handles and other pages. Her distorted and morphed images have been circulating widely, aimed at maligning her reputation.
Khushbu told South First that she has filed a complaint with the National Commission for Women (NCW) against this harassment.
Following her interview, several social media users posted negative remarks against Khushbu. DMK-affiliated X pages, in particular, crossed all limits, with one such account named “VNJ Karunanidhi” sharing a morphed and vulgar image of Khushbu with the caption linking her with actors Prabhu and Vijay, aimed at damaging her dignity.
Khushbu, angered by the post, responded directly by commenting on it, criticising the user and accusing the DMK of consistently failing to uplift women.
However, the user continued his verbal abuse, replying: “You act in films by exposing your body—what right do you have to get angry, dog?”
Though the user later deleted the morphed image from his X page, he claimed: “I didn’t delete it out of fear, but only due to police orders.”
In January this year, the Tamil Nadu government under Chief Minister MK Stalin amended the law on crimes against women.
According to the amendment, “harassment” includes any indecent conduct, act, or behaviour by a man, whether physical, verbal, non-verbal, digital, electronic, or any other means, which causes or is likely to cause intimidation, fear, shame or embarrassment, including threats, abuse, assault, or use of force. Offenders can face up to five years in jail and a fine of ₹1 lakh.
Despite this, the fact that the police only advised the user to delete the post — without taking any further legal action — raises serious questions, especially given that hundreds of similar posts with abusive language and morphed images continue to circulate online.
Khushbu alleged that such social media cells are purposefully maintained by the DMK to defame women.
She further claimed that the DMK under Stalin cannot tolerate women’s progress: “The police in every state come under the control of the chief minister. If the person behind this post has no links to the DMK or its ideology, why hasn’t the CM had the courage to publicly say so or take action? Today he abuses me — tomorrow it will be some other woman. Offenders here get away easily,” she said.
She also accused DMK supporters of having a patriarchal and misogynistic mindset.
Khushbu criticised Chief Minister Stalin’s leadership in comparison to his father and former chief minister M Karunanidhi.
“Every time something like this happens, I ask them — are these the values Periyar, Anna, and Kalaignar stood for? You keep quoting Bharathiyar and speaking of women’s progress. Is this how you show it — by spreading slander against women?” she questioned the DMK government in Tamil Nadu.
She recalled a 2013 incident, when she was in the DMK, where party workers attacked her at her home, allegedly over remarks she made about Stalin.
“When that happened, Karunanidhi immediately ordered action against the perpetrators. He was a far better man than Stalin,” she said.
“When I joined DMK, Karunanidhi insisted that we must refer to Jayalalithaa with respect — either as ‘Ammaiyar’, ‘Avargal’, or ‘chief minister’. He taught me political civility and decorum. I worked under him for five years.”
“During the 2013 attack, DMK cadres entered my home, pulled my saree, and beat me with slippers. However, Karunanidhi acted immediately and took action against everyone involved,” she recalled.
She alleged Stalin has been a mute spectator — then and now.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
