BJP Slams DMK MP A Raja For His "India Is Not A Nation" Remark

Bharatiya Janata Party IT cell head Amit Malviya on Tuesday slammed DMK's A Raja and alleged that the DMK leader had called for "Balkanisation of India and derided Lord Ram, as well as made disparaging comments on Manipuris and questions 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," Malviya posted on X on Tuesday.

"Congress and other INDI Alliance partners are quiet. Rahul Gandhi, their putative Prime Ministerial candidate's silence is eloquent," he posted

Malviya posted the said speech of DMK's A Raja made in Madurai with the translation saying, "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 a 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."

"From the water tank, water comes to the kitchen. We will use the water in the kitchen. The same water from the water tank comes in the toilet but we won't use it from there. What's the reason? We're having a problem psychologically. Water is the same but there's a difference from where it comes. We acknowledge both. That's the toilet and this is the kitchen. Similarly, in Kashmir, there's a culture. Acknowledge it. In Manipur, people eat dog meat and 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," he posted.

In his speech, the DMK leader also said that he could not accept the BJP's ideology.

"If you say it's this God, this is Jai Sri Ram, this is Bharat mata ki jai, then we and Tamil Nadu will never accept Bharat Matha and Jai Shriram... I don't believe in Ramayanam...." 

Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court questioned the Tamil Nadu Sports Minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin over his remarks calling for the eradication of 'Sanatana Dharma' and told him that he is "not a layman but a minister".

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta told Stalin's lawyer that the minister is not a layman but a minister and he should know the consequences of his remarks.

The bench frowned upon Udhayanidhi Stalin saying he 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?," asked the bench.

The DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin had made remarks comparing 'Sanatana Dharma' to diseases like 'malaria' and 'dengue' while advocating for its elimination on grounds that it was rooted in the caste system and historical discrimination.

His remarks triggered a massive political controversy across the country. It led to several criminal complaints being filed against him.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)