DMK MP Senthilkumar who stroked controversy a day earlier by making a pejorative ‘Gaumutra’ comment in Parliament, expressed regret for what he calls were “inadvertent remarks”. After facing backlash for his controversial statements in Parliament and issuing a half-hearted apology on Twitter, the DMK leader stood in Lok Sabha and withdrew his commentary. He also requested the Lok Sabha speaker to expunge his hurtful comments adding that he apologises if it hurt the sentiments of the people.
#WATCH | Winter Session of Parliament | DMK MP DNV Senthilkumar S expresses regret over his 'Gaumutra' remark and withdraws it.
— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2023
"The statement made by me yesterday inadvertently, if it had hurt the sentiments of the Members and sections of the people, I would like to withdraw… pic.twitter.com/S0cjyfb7HU
“The statement made by me yesterday inadvertently, if it had hurt the sentiments of the Members and sections of the people, I would like to withdraw it. I request the words to be expunged…I regret it,” the DMK leader was quoted saying by News agency ANI.
Reacting to his apology, Lok Sabha Chair Kirit Solanki noted that the hateful comments were already expunged from the House proceedings.
Meanwhile, earlier on Tuesday (5th December), hours after throwing the Gaumutra jibe at the Hindi heartland states in Lok Sabha, DMK MP Senthil Kumar had made a half-hearted apology for his comments. Taking to X, he claimed that he did not use the term with ‘any intent’.
He tweeted, “Commenting on the results of the five recent state assembly elections, I have used a word in an inappropriate way. Not using that term with any intent, I apologize for sending the wrong meaning across.”
Commenting on the results of the five recent state assembly elections, I have used a word in a inappropriate way.
— Dr.Senthilkumar.S (@DrSenthil_MDRD) December 5, 2023
Not using that term with any intent,
I apologize for sending the wrong meaning across.
Pertinent to note that minutes after posting this lame apology, the DMK MP from Dharmapuri, Senthil Kumar was seen brazening his remarks out before media channels.
When asked about what he meant by Gaumutra states, Senthil Kumar said, “See you look at the statement as such and then you come into things. I said they are very good at election manoeuvring. They are very good at where their strength is. They are good in the Hindi heartland. They are good in the Gaumutra states. But they cannot enter into four southern states because our principles and ideologies are different. So it is just basically meant to make an ideological statement about what they are good at and where we are. It is always said that unity in diversity is what we look at.”
Notably, the DMK leader has a history of taking Gaumutra jibe in the parliament house. He also cited that there was no outrage on the last occasion when he did so. He then used this argument to support his current insensitive remarks for which he has now expressed regret after facing massive backlash for his Hinduphobic remark.
Further advancing in support of his statement, Senthil Kumar tried to give it an ideological cover by saying that the Gaumutra term (meaning cow’s urine) used by him has nothing to do with cows.
He said, “I am not saying anything related to cows. It is only the principles and the ideology which you say. Gaumutra doesn’t translate into a cow. It doesn’t just translate into a sacred animal thing which people are saying. There is much more to it. There is a much more scientific and radical thing to it. It is not just what people want to interpret certainly. It is not the BJP that has made a thing out of it. Because there are other people in the house. It has got nothing to do with the alliance partners and the election results in the Hindi states. Elections are fought on certain principles and ideologies.”
A repeat offense of ‘deliberate’ utterance of ‘Gaumutra’ jibe popularised by Pulwama terrorists to dehumanise and mock Hindus
Evidently, on 5th December, the DMK MP from Dharmapuri Senthil Kumar made the pejorative ‘gaumutra’ remark to mock the Hindi-speaking states in the Northern part of India. While addressing the Parliament on ‘The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2023’, the DMK leader referred to states in the Hindi heartland as “Gaumutra states”.
He said, “The people of this country should think that the power of this BJP is only winning elections mainly in the heartland states of Hindi, what we generally call as the ‘Gaumutra states’.”
#WATCH | Winter Session of Parliament | DMK MP DNV Senthilkumar S says "…The people of this country should think that the power of this BJP is only winning elections mainly in the heartland states of Hindi, what we generally call the 'Gaumutra' states…" pic.twitter.com/i37gx9aXyI
— ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2023
Previously, in February 2022, he mocked the BJP government by making the Hinduphobic ‘gaumutra’ comment in the parliament. In his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President, Senthilkumar said that if the government at all wants to implement the National Education Policy, it should do it in their ‘Gaumutra’ states.
Furious over the execution of the National Education Policy in the state of Tamil Nadu, he had said, “According to NEP, gross enrollment ratio has to be 50% which Tamil Nadu has achieved long ago. If they want to implement this policy, they should implement the Dravidian model for the development of the country. Why is their policy being thrust upon us? We reject it. If they want to implement it, they should do it in their Gaumutra States.”
It is worth noting that the ‘Gaumutra’ jibe has been used by Islamists and their apologists as a racist, derogatory slur against Hindus. The Pulwama terrorist Adil Ahmed Dar had also said that he killed the CRPF soldiers to kill those who ‘drink cow urine’, to mock Indians, especially Hindus.
In 2019, a Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist in a suicide attack had killed as many as 40 CRPF soldiers in Pulwama. Following the attack, a video was released in which the terrorist Ahmed Dhar could be heard saying he wanted to punish and kill the ‘cow urine drinkers’ in the name of Allah.
Another video of #DMK MP #SenthilKumar abusing Lord Krishna, Ram, Ramayana, Mahabharata publicly. He is a serial offender.#Gaumutrastates #gaumutra #SanatanaDharma #INDIAAlliance #Congress
— Aryabhata | ஆர்யபட்டா 🕉️ (@Aryabhata99) December 5, 2023
pic.twitter.com/5jBqh3FVQx
A few months ago, the same DMK MP Senthil Kumar, abruptly stopped Bhumi Poojan halfway.
— Scarlet Heart🇮🇳 (@_Saffron_Girl_) December 5, 2023
Notably, he is a converted xtian. @TimesNow @MrSinha_ pic.twitter.com/qsTNSKaxpw
Earlier in May, the same MP had made derogatory remarks on Hindu gods and beliefs. Speaking at a Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhaagam, he had made derogatory comments on Krishna, Mahabharat, etc. He had also said that the people in BJP-ruled states have no brain.
Furthermore, apart from the Hinduphobic ‘Gaumutra’ remarks, several old videos of DMK MP Senthilkumar have also resurfaced on the internet in which he could be heard mocking and abusing Hindu deities Shri Krishna and Shri Ram, Hindu epics Mahabharat and Ramayana as well as Hindu rituals.
