Raja’s comments on ‘Jai Sri Ram’ stir row

A controversy erupted on Tuesday after the opposition parties posted a video on ‘X’ of DMK leader A Raja purportedly making remarks that “India has never been a nation” and that he and his party were not concerned if they were dubbed as “enemies of Ram’, drawing a strong reaction from the BJP that termed the comments as “hate speech” and demanded his arrest.

In the video, Raja also purportedly said that when the Bilkis Bano case convicts walked out of the prison after the Gujarat government released them, BJP workers raised ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogans to greet them. He asked if they (BJP workers) were not ashamed to do so.

He said for him, his party and leaders, including late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, there was no anger against God if it was all about showing love and compassion and serving the poor.
“However, if the ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogans meant fundamentalism, we will never accept that Jai Sri Ram and Bharat Mata, Tamil Nadu will never accept that,” he said.

Without naming the BJP, Raja indicated that he was not concerned even if he and his party were to be dubbed as “enemies of Lord Ram” for making this statement (that they will not accept Jai Sri Ram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai) and went on to elucidate his stand by quoting from the Kamba Ramayana.
Lashing out at the opposition parties’ I.N.D.I.A bloc over purported remarks of Raja, the BJP 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 in New Delhi, senior party leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad noted that Raja, a Lok Sabha member 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 alleged.

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… You go and tell (that) we are enemies of Ram”.
“We vehemently condemn such remarks,” Prasad said and demanded that the Congress and other INDIA bloc constituents come out and clarify if they agree with the DMK leader’s remarks.

DMK’s ally, Congress too slammed the Raja for the purported remarks and asserted that one should exercise restraint while speaking.
Raja, who is seen addressing a meeting organised by his party, purportedly said, “India is not a (one) nation. Understand this well. India has never been one nation. One nation denotes one language, one tradition and one culture and only such characteristics make one nation.” Claiming that India is not a nation, but a subcontinent Raja said, “What’s the reason? Here, Tamil is one nation and one country. Malayalam is one language, one nation and one country. Oriya is one nation, one language and one country. All such national races constitute India. So, India is not a country, it is a subcontinent that has various practices, traditions and cultures.”