Editorial: Raja Again Nixing Lord Ram Hurts INDIA

A Raja, the DMK kingpin in the 2-G scam who was acquitted in the massive bribery case, is at it again. At a public rally in Tamil Nadu last week, Raja said if those paroled in the Bilkis Bano case could be greeted with “Jai Shri Ram” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” chants, he and his party would never accept Ram or Bharat Mata. According to him India was not one nation, never was, and never will be — it was a subcontinent of various nations, Oriya nation, Tamil nation, Malayalam nation, etc. In his view, a nation presupposes one people, one language, one culture, etc. Skirting dangerously around the DMK’s past propagation of secession, the Telecom Minister in the UPA government, Raja embarrassed the party’s allies; by implication running down Lord Ram. Abusing Sanatana Dharma from a public platform, as DMK leaders do routinely, hurts the feelings of a lot of god-fearing Hindus. At the same time, this may please a lot of followers of other faiths whose vote Raja might have an eye on. But nonetheless this forces the Congress party, which is in a seat-sharing alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu, on the back foot. If the Congress has any faith in Sanatana Dharma it would break its alliance with the DMK, especially when this is not the first time Raja has shown disrespect towards Lord Ram. Every time Raja or Udhayanidhi, Chief Minister Stalin’s minister son, abuse the Hindu religion they cost the Congress party millions of votes. Meanwhile, it is a mystery why the Modi government has not pursued the acquittal of Raja and others in the 2-G bribery scam. Returning the bribe money to the bribe-giver only when caught by the police did not warrant acquittal — it called for conviction and imprisonment.