Weeks after DMK leader Senthil Kumar insulted the Hindi heartland ‘Gaumutra states’, another party leader, Dayanidhi Maran, recently made disparaging remarks against migrants coming from Hindi-speaking states to Tamil Nadu.
“Hindi-speaking people are cleaning toilets and roads for us,” Dayanidhi Maran, a leader of DMK, one of the members of the INDI alliance, said at a public meeting in Tamil Nadu.
DMK leader and MP @Dayanidhi_Maran calls Hindi speaking people toilet cleaners.
— Politicspedia (@Politicspedia23) December 23, 2023
There's no meaning of condemning their bigotry as they've become shameless but I'm eager to know the opinion of @NitishKumar & @RahulGandhi on it!
Do they agree with their alliance partner? pic.twitter.com/ugoT5N2RST
Earlier this month, Senthil Kumar, the DMK MP from Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu 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”.
Addressing the Lok Sabha members, 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’.”
The insulting remarks were passed after the BJP swept to power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
INDI alliance leaders’ insulting remarks on Sanatana Dharma
Earlier this year, DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin went on a tirade against Sanatan Dharma on social media. On September 2, the Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development of Tamil Nadu said, “Mosquitoes, dengue, flu, malaria, corona – we should not oppose these things. They’ve to be eradicated.”
“The same is the case with Santanam (Hinduism). Our first work should be to abolish/eradicate Sanatanam instead of opposing it. So, my appreciation to you all for giving an apt title to the meeting,” he stated.
The comments sparked a massive controversy following which several INDI alliance leaders rushed to the defence of the DMK leader over his comment on Sanatana Dharma.
Congress leader Karti Chidambaram extended his support to the DMK leader on Saturday (September 2). “Sanatan Dharma is nothing but code for a Caste Hierarchical Society. All those batting for it are hankering for the Good Ole Days! Caste is the Curse of India,” he went on a vitriolic rant against the Hindu civilisational religious philosophy.
Similarly, Congress leader Priyank Kharge also came out in support of Stalin. Speaking to the media personnel, the Congress leader had said, “Any religion that does not promote equality or does not ensure you have the dignity of being human is not religion, according to me. Any religion that does not give equal rights or does not treat you like humans is as good as disease.”
