New Delhi, Mar 5: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed a “DMK dynast and minister” (read Udhayanidhi Stalin) for “insulting the beliefs of crores of people,” BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya on Tuesday took to the social media to accuse senior DMK leader A Raja of “balkanisation of India”, “deriding” Lord Ram, making “disparaging remarks on Manipuris” and “questioning the idea of India as a nation”.
“The hate speeches from DMK's stable continue unabated. After Udhayanidhi Stalin's call to annihilate Sanatan Dharma, it is now A Raja who calls for balkanisation of India, derides Bhagwan Ram, makes disparaging comments on Manipuris and questions the idea of India, as a nation.
“Congress and other INDI Alliance partners are quiet. Rahul Gandhi, their putative Prime Ministerial candidate's silence is eloquent,” Malviya posted on X.
Addressing a public meeting, Raja, known for his controversial statements, was quoted as saying that people of Tamil Nadu will not accept BJP's ideology or the concept of Bharat Mata.
“If you say this is the God. If this is your Jai Sri Ram, if this is your Bharat Mata Ki Jai, we will never accept that Jai Sri Ram and Bharat Mata. Tamil Nadu won't accept. You go and tell, we're enemies of Ram,” Malviya quoted Raja as saying.
What Raja also said, as per Malviya's social media posts, “India is not a nation. Understand this well. India is never a nation. One nation means one language, one tradition and one culture. Then only it is one nation. India is not a nation but a subcontinent. What's the reason? Here, Tamil is one nation and one country. Malayalam is one language, one nation and one country. Oriya is a nation, a language and a country.
“All these nations make up India. So, India is not country it is a subcontinent. There are so many traditions and cultures. If you come to Tamil Nadu, there's a culture. In Kerala, there's another culture. In Delhi, there's another culture. In Oriya, there's another culture. Why in Manipur, as RS Bharathi said, they eat dog meat. Yes, it is true, they eat. That's a culture. There's nothing wrong. It's all in our mind.”
“In Manipur, people eat dog meat, acknowledge it. If a community eats beef, what is your problem? Did they ask you to eat? So, unity in diversity. We've differences. Acknowledge it”.
What SC told Udhaayanidhi Stalin
Asserting that Udhayanidhi Stalin “abused his rights” the Supreme Court on Monday slammed the Tamil Nadu minister over his comments on ‘Sanatana Dharma' and asked him to refrain from such comments as he is “not a layman but a minister”.
Stalin had approached the apex court, seeking the consolidation of multiple FIRs registered against him in various states for his remarks.
However, the SC said Udhayanidhi should have known the consequences before making remakes. “You abuse your rights under freedom of speech and expression and right to freedom of religion and then come to the Supreme Court for protection under Article 32? Do you not know the consequences of what you said?” according to reports quoting the SC order.
Udhayanidhi's remarks comparing ‘Sanatana Dharma' to diseases like ‘malaria' and ‘dengue', calling for its elimination on grounds that it was rooted in the caste system and historical discrimination led to a massive political controversy, resulting in several criminal complaints against him.
Notably, without directly referring to the ‘Sanatana Dharma' controversy courted by Udhyanidhi, the Prime Minister, also said that the Supreme Court had posed uncomfortable questions to “a DMK dynast and Minister”.
“Insulting the beliefs of crores of people is also the nature and habit of dynasts”, he said, regretting that those with such arrogance continued to hold key positions in the state government.
Playing to the gallery
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, such exchanges are expected.
However, the reason why BJP is playing on the front foot in the state is because of the number of Lok Sabha seats (39) it holds.
Observers say the saffron party is sensing good returns from the state in its endeavour to fulfil the ‘370' goal by PM Modi.
It is also a state that the BJP has not had much political successes in the past.
So far, as the DMK is concerned, observers say at the root of such remarks is the anti-caste view of religion going back centuries in the state.
Whether Udhayanidhi or Raja, all these statements can be traced back to the basic ideology of the DMK as a party, which emerged in the wake of non-Brahmin political movement, they add.
The ruling party of Tamil Nadu has its roots in the Self-Respect Movement started by EV Ramaswamy ‘Periyar'. Opposing “divisions based on caste and religion”, it was positioned as a rationalist movement against social evils—ideals that influenced the state's politics and parties, including of the two lead players DMK and AIADMK.
According to scholars, the main objective of the movement (which was a reaction to the “Brahmin dominance of the administrative, cultural, educational, political and religious spheres”) was to eradicate the “imbalance” in society in the initial phase. Later, it became more radical and political in nature.
Majority of voters in the state are Hindus
However, despite majority of voters (87.58 per cent as per report) being Hindus, DMK and AIADMK have managed to hold the sway since 1967
Observers say voters in Tamil Nadu are perhaps a “little different” from other states.
They vote on caste pride, appeasement politics, government delivery of services and promises, sentiments based on cinema and popular appeal.
There is also a strong anti-Hindi sentiment, which is regularly tapped by Dravadian parties.
“Tamil voters know that despite the rhetoric DMK candidates will visit temples ahead of elections.
“Dravadian leaders are spin-masters and the rhetoric is another way to divert attention from public anger over real issues.
“The voting pattern can be a combination of many factors, including film-inspired emotions and, to an extent, also some freebees/bribes given just before voting. Otherwise, Tamil Nadu is as religious as any other state in India,” they add.
