On Wednesday, A Raja, the deputy general secretary of the DMK defended his provocative statements against the Hindu community and refused to apologize for hurting the sentiments of Hindus. “I am ready to apologize. But for what should I apologize? We are not enemies of Hindus”, A Raja said on September 21.
This is a day after several Hindu organizations called for a bandh in protest against DMK MP’s hate speech against Sanatan Dharma. “A Raja should be removed from his post. This is not a one-day protest. If he doesn’t apologize, we’ll gather in thousands and lay siege to his home”, the Secretary of a Hindu organization named Hindu Munnani had said.
According to a video released by the News Minute, DMK MP refused to apologize for his provocative statement against the Hindu community and alleged that Hindus themselves were enemies of Hindus. He claimed that it was Dravida Kazhagam and DMK who fought for the reservation of 60% of the Backward class people who are Hindus. “We asked for reservation of all Hindu caste people who belong to the backward class. But other upper-class Hindu people including Brahmins and Rajputs opposed it. We are not enemies of Hindus. But Hindus themselves are”, he hinted.
A Raja defends his comments on Hinduism, hits out at BJP, Governor RN Ravi
— TheNewsMinute (@thenewsminute) September 21, 2022
Become a TNM member: https://t.co/KRRjGD7oKe #ARaja #SanatanaDharma #Hinduism #DMK pic.twitter.com/mHd4FM5vjV
On Tuesday, state BJP IT cell chief CTR Nirmal Kumar also demanded action against A Raja and demanded an apology for his blatant statements. He had registered an official complaint against A Raja before the Lok Sabha speaker for his derogatory rant against Hindus. He demanded that Raja be refrained from contesting any elections in the future. BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy had also accused A Raja of creating a divide to hide the DMK government’s failures.
A Raja in an event on Monday had cornered State Governor RN Ravi for speaking in favour of Hindus and Sanatan Dharma. Raja had asserted that only upper-class Hindus support Sanatan Dharma and that it is founded on Manusmriti, which refers to backward-class Hindus as Shudras.
“You are a shudra till you remain a Hindu. You’re the son of a prostitute till you remain a shudra. You are a Panchaman (Dalit) till you remain a Hindu. You’re an untouchable till you remain a Hindu. How many of you wish to stay as children of prostitutes? How many of you wish to remain untouchables? Only if we are vocal about these questions, it will become elemental in breaking Sanathana (Sanatana Dharma),” A Raja said while addressing a meeting of Dravidar Kazhagam here”, he was quoted.
BJP on September 13 had vehemently condemned the provocative statements of DMK MP A Raja against Hindus. Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai had also slammed the DMK MP and accused him of appeasement tactics by focusing on a specific group. DMK MP A Raja on September 21 happened to stay firm on his blatant opinion about the Hindus and refused to apologize for his provocative statements.
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
“So what are Sanghis saying now? That A Raja must apologize. He has hurt the Hindus? Apologizing is not a big deal. It’s a humane quality. If someone says they will never apologize, there is no bigger fool than them. If someone has made a mistake, he must apologize. But I have made no mistake”, he said roughly in the Tamil language.
He also took a dig at Governor RN Ravi who had said that Sanatan Dharma should be followed even by those who don’t practice any religion. “The Governor has oathed to uphold the Constitution of India. Where did Sanatan Dharma come from then? Is a Hindu specified in Sanatan Dharma different than the Hindu specified in Indian Constitution?”, he pondered.
A Raja is the deputy general secretary of the DMK and a Member of Parliament for the Nilgiris electorate. Interestingly, he was the Information Technology minister under Manmohan Singh’s UPA government when the 2G spectrum scam was exposed. A Raja sparked controversy on September 12 first when he made provocative remarks about Hinduism. Reportedly, 18 Hindus were detained on Tuesday during the protest against DMK MP A Raja’s hate speech against Sanatan Dharma.
