A Raja’s ‘Jai Shri Ram’ remark stirs row

A March 3 speech by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and former Union minister A Raja in which he claimed that India is not a nation, but a subcontinent, raised the threat of secession, and said that his party was not concerned if they were dubbed “enemies of Ram” provoked an angry response from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The head of the BJP’s IT cell, Amit Malviya, posted the speech on X and said the controversial MP -- he was India’s telecom minister at the time of the 2G scam -- was calling for the Balkanisation of India.

“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 said on X (formerly Twitter).

Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, too, slammed Raja for his statement and said that it reflects his “Maoist ideology”.

Addressing the media, Prasad said the DMK leader insulted Shri Ram and Bharat Mata. “He has made indecent remarks against Shri Ram. While the Ghamandiya alliance leaders routinely make such statements, the parties in the I.N.D.I. alliance maintains a conspicuous silence. Congress will have to answer this,” he said.

He added that the parties that are part of the bloc “insult Indian culture, faith, and values every day. They become electoral Hindus for political gain.”

He said DMK leaders have in the past insulted Hindu deities and challenged the idea of India within the alliance’s agenda. He referred to DMK Minister Udhyanidhi Stalin and mentioned that the Supreme Court had addressed the misuse of freedom of speech, leading to legal actions. The comments emphasize concerns about the alliance’s approach to cultural and religious matters.

Raja was quoted to have said “India is not a nation; India is never a nation. One nation implies one language, one tradition, one culture. India is not a nation but a subcontinent.”

A DMK leader said that Raja made this speech on March 3 in Madurai . The controversy comes a day after the Supreme Court on Monday pulled up Tamil Nadu sports minister, and chief minister MK Stalin’s son, Udhayanidhi Stalin for “abusing” his right to freedom of speech through his “eradicate Sanatan Dharma” remark made last year, and said that being a minister, he should have been more careful with his statements and mindful of the possible consequences they could have.

“India is not a nation but a subcontinent. What’s the reason?” Raja asked, going on to speak of the unique identity of the states, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. He also claimed that Manipuris eat dog meat because that’s their culture.

To be sure, the Tamil identity has always been central to the philosophy of Dravidian parties such as the DMK and the AIADMK, but in his speech, Raja went on to speak of secession.

“Constructing imaginary situations & poisoning the minds of the people with secessionist thoughts has been the bedrock of Dravidian politics,” Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai said.

In his speech, Raja referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment that after elections there will be no DMK and said that if the BJP came back to power there would be no India. . “...India is a sovereign, secular, socialist, democratic according to our Constitution. If you (BJP) come back, there will be no Constitution. That’s why I said India won’t be there,” Raja said. “If India won’t be there, Tamil Nadu..will secede. Does India want this?”

He also went on to speak of Mother India (Bharat Mata) and Lord Ram and said “Tamil Nadu would not accept” the BJP’s ideology of either.

In his speech, Raja said that for him, his party and its leaders, including late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, there was no anger against God if it was all about showing love and compassion and serving the poor.

“However, if the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogans meant fundamentalism, we will never accept that Jai Shri Ram and Bharat Mata, Tamil Nadu will never accept that,” he said.

Without naming the BJP, Raja indicated that he was not concerned even if he and his party were to be dubbed as “enemies of Lord Ram” and went on to elucidate his stand by quoting from the Kamba Ramayana.

Modi and the BJP have heightened their focus on Tamil Nadu, a state where no national party has made a mark since the late 1960s. The Prime Minister has visited the state four times since January. Wining a few seats in the state which sends 39 representatives to the Lok Sabha is key to the party’s target of winning 370 seats in the coming parliamentary elections.

“They (DMK) officially gave up the demand decades ago but it simmers under the surface,” said political analyst Sumanth Raman.