"A large section of brothers and sisters are not treated equal," Governor Ravi said. (file)
The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Monday hit out at Governor RN Ravi for his comments regarding social discrimination in the state, alleging he was unable to digest its governance model of inclusive development and accused him of launching a "false propaganda". At an event in Thanjavur on Sunday, Mr Ravi had said there exists social discrimination in the society which was unacceptable.
"We have untouchability, social discrimination. A large section of brothers and sisters are not treated equal. It is painful, it is unacceptable. It is not what the Hindu Dharma says. Hindu Dharma talks about equality," he said.
Those from the Scheduled Castes were once 'rishis' (sages) who contributed to the Vedas. There was no discrimination and it "crept in later," he claimed.
It is a social evil and must be eradicated, he said, adding saint Ramanajucharya dedicated his whole life towards eradicating inequality.
"Unfortunately in Tamil Nadu, in our state this social discrimination is still a national problem. Every day I read in the newspaper, I get the report, I hear the story of our brothers and sisters from scheduled caste are not being allowed access to the temples. This is strange and I am surprised and shocked. Nowhere in India, no where in Bharat our young people have caste bands (on their wrist)," he said.
"Here in our state, our youth are wearing caste band-- how shameful, how shameful that a state which talks so much about social justice, which makes so much politics about social justice but they have been exploiting the people in the name of caste, in promoting social discrimination," he charged.
He pointed out incidents like the one at Vengaivayal, where "human excreta" was mixed in an overhead water tank catering to the local SC citizens and another at Tuticorin where locals refused to allow their children to have food prepared by a cook from the SC community in a school.
Such discrimination "is everyday affair," in Tamil Nadu, Governor Ravi added.
"It is shameful, it has to be addressed by social consciousness and by social reform, not by politics of vote bank," he added.
Mr Ravi also said the agenda of those talking about "eradicating Hindu dharma" was to "destroy the country and weaken it," in collaboration with certain elements.
Hitting back at Mr Ravi, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai alleged the governor was "indulging in false propaganda." "He is not able to stomach the growth the Dravidian model of governance has achieved. He is against Dravidian ideology, propagates Sanatana ideology. Wherever he goes, he speaks about the virtues of Sanatana Dharma but Sanatana Dharma is responsible for this caste system." "If we have division in the society, it is becasue of Sanatana Dharma," he said.
The inclusive growth that has happened in Tamil Nadu has not happened anywhere else, even as the number of women entrepreneurs as well as those from the SC/ST communities was 'incomparable' to other states, he told PTI.
"If he is randomly picking some events which has happened -- look at the response the government has given to all those issues. Temple that denied entry to Dalits was closed and the issue remedied," he said.
Regarding the Tuticorin incident, he pointed out party's senior leader and Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi had addressed the issue after having lunch with the students at the school.
Further, the historic achievement that anybody can become temple priests in the state "is breaking the glass ceiling." "They are not able to take it, the governor is not able to take this. So he is making imaginary, wild allegations," Mr Annadurai charged.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)