Insulting Hindu gods hallmark of INDIA bloc’s political agenda: BJP on DMK MP Raja’s remarks

PTI, Mar 5, 2024, 3:11 PM IST

The BJP on Tuesday lashed out at the opposition parties’ INDIA bloc over reported remarks of DMK leader A Raja against Hinduism and Lord Ram and said insulting India’s ethos publicly and humiliating Hindu gods has become the hallmark of their political agenda.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, senior party leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad noted that DMK MP Raja in his latest speech in Tamil has said “India is not a nation. Understand this well. India is never a nation. One nation means one language, one tradition, one culture. Then, only it is a nation. India is not a nation but a sub-continent”.

“This is Maoist ideology,” Prasad charged, reacting sharply to the DMK leader’s reported remarks.

Prasad further quoted Raja who said in his speech “if this is your Jai Shri Ram, if this is your Bharat Mata Ki Jai, we will never accept that Jai Shri Ram and Bharat Mata. Tamil don’t accept. You go and tell (that) we are enemies of Ram”.

The BJP leader demanded that the Congress and other INDIA bloc constituents to come out and say if they agree with the DMK leader’s remarks.

“We vehemently condemn such remarks,” Prasad charged.

“Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra), Mallikarjun Kharge, do you consider it (Raja’s remarks) right?” he asked.

Defaming India’s identity and insulting Indian faith has become a habit and political agenda of INDIA ‘gathbandhan’, the BJP leader charged.

It is evident that insulting India’s ethos publicly, humiliating Hindu gods, and questioning the very idea of India has become the hallmark of the political agenda of the India gathbandhan, he said.

That’s the reason why the Supreme Court on Monday, while hearing Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s plea for clubbing together all FIRs filed against him over his ”eradicate Sanatan dharma” remark, had noted that he takes undue liberty with the freedom of speech and then comes to the court seeking relief.

“Please do not insult Hindu sentiment in such a way, do not embarrass Hindu faith like this,” Prasad said, adding, “We respect all faiths. This is the Indian ‘sanskar’ from Rig Veda which says that ‘truth is one, paths may be different’.” The Supreme Court on Monday rebuked Stalin over his ”eradicate Sanatan dharma” remark and asked why he has moved the court with his plea for clubbing together the FIRs filed against him after abusing his right to freedom of speech and expression.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta told Stalin that being a minister, he should have been careful with his statements and mindful of the possible consequences they could have.