The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has filed a complaint against Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) leader and MP A Raja, over a comment made during his speech, in an event at Namakkal on September 6. A 40-second video clip of his 12-minute-long speech is being widely circulated in social media.
Raja was speaking at an event for collecting subscriptions for the paper ‘Viduthalai,’ where he said that this was a “difficult time for the Indian Constitution” and that there was an attempt to “saffronise” all institutions, including the Supreme Court, Election Commission, Parliament, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). After stating this, he said that there should be papers like “Viduthalai and Murasoli to oust such activities,” and they should jointly “send away Modi, Amit Shah and the saffron gang.”
He said, “Hereafter, we should not hesitate to question who a Hindu is, in papers like Murasoli, Theekkathir and Viduthalai. I don’t want to be a Hindu. We need the right to ask ‘why do you want to keep me a Hindu?' The Lingayats filed a case in court saying that they have different religious practices as compared to Hindus and sought not to categorise them as Hindus. However, the Supreme Court said that if you are not a Christian or Muslim or a Parsi, you should be a Hindu. Does such an atrocity happen elsewhere?”
He further added, “As long as you are a Hindu, you are a Shudra; as long as you are a Shudra, you are the son of a prostitute; as long as you are a Hindu, you are a Panchami person [Dalits]; as long as you are a Hindu, you are an untouchable. The roots of sanatan dharma can be broken only if we ask, ‘How many of you want to be the son of a prostitute? How many of you want to be untouchables?’ and it is time that this decision must be taken by ‘Viduthalai,’ ‘Murasoli’, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravidar Kazhagam. In order to do these works, I wish that Asiriyar [Veeramani] should succeed in doing many things,” he said.
A clipping of the video, where Raja is seen commenting on Hindus is being widely circulated, and Tamil Nadu president of BJP K Annamalai also tweeted the video saying, “Sorry state of political discourse in Tamil Nadu. @arivalayam MP has yet again spewed hatred against one community with the sole aim of appeasing others. Very very unfortunate mindset of these political leaders who think they own Tamil Nadu(sic).”
Sorry state of political discourse in Tamil Nadu. @arivalayam MP has yet again spewed hatred against one community with the sole aim of appeasing others.
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) September 12, 2022
Very very unfortunate mindset of these political leaders who think they own Tamil Nadu. pic.twitter.com/UntspDKdQ3
BJP Mahila Morcha national president and MLA Vanathi Srinivasan tweeted saying: “DMK MP A Raja has insulted women and Hindus on numerous occasions. This time too, he has spewed venom stating that all Shudras are children of prostitutes and they will remain so until they remain in Hinduism.”
DMK MP A. Raja has insulted the women and Hindus on numerous occasions.
— Vanathi Srinivasan (@VanathiBJP) September 13, 2022
This time too, he has spewed venom stating that all Shudras are children of prostitutes and they will remain so until they remain in Hinduism. pic.twitter.com/odwQ4RA1ec
Meanwhile, a complaint to the police has been filed by BJP state vice-president Karu Nagarajan, stating that the speech intended to, “destroy Hindu religious beliefs and to spread rumours, and to incite religious violence in Tamil Nadu. A Member of the Parliament, who won through the votes of a majority of Hindus speaking like this is anti-democratic.” The BJP leaders sought action against Raja for his statements.
However, Raja has put out a tweet this afternoon without any context, questioning the status of Shudras in Hinduism. “Who are Sudras? Are they not Hindus? Why they have been insulted in Manusmriti denied equality, education, employment and temple entry. Dravidian movement as saviour of 90% Hindus questioned and redressed these, cannot be anti-Hindus, (sic)” he said.
Who are Sudras? Are they not Hindus? Why they have been insulted in Manusmrithi denied equality, education, employment and Temple entry. Dravidian Movement as saviour of 90% Hindus questioned and redressed these, cannot be anti-Hindus.
— A RAJA (@dmk_raja) September 13, 2022