DMK MP A Raja grabs headlines again, this time for his remarks on ‘Jai Shri Ram’

COIMBATORE: DMK MP A Raja is in the news again, this time for his remarks that he doesn’t believe in Lord Ram or Ramayana went viral.

In his speech at a DMK public meeting organised in Gobichettipalayam town in Erode district of Tamil Nadu on Saturday, Raja also took a dig at the chants of `Jai Shri Ram’ by supporters when convicts in Bilkis Bano case were released from prison in Aug 2022.

Subsequently, on Jan 8, Supreme Court had quashed the order of en masse remission granted by State of Gujarat to 11 men sentenced to life imprisonment for gangrape of Bilkis Bano and murder of her family- members, including a two-month-old infant during the 2002 riots.

“Bilkis Bano’s six-month-old baby was killed and she was gang raped. But when convicts in the case came out of jail, they were given a rousing reception by a crowd that chanted Jai Shri Ram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai. If this is what the chants of Jai Sri Ram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai stand for, we will never accept it. Tamil Nadu will not accept it,’’ Raja said. “If you want, you go ahead and say we are enemies of Lord Ram,’’ he added.

Raja then said the 'Ramayana' he was taught was all about harmony and brotherhood. “What we have been taught is that Ram accepts Guhan, Sugriv and Vibishan as brothers. This is what Kamba Ramayana is about – people from all castes are one, a hunter and monkey too are kin,’’ he said.

“I don’t believe in Ramayana, I don’t believe in Ram – but this is what Ramayana is about, human harmony, " Raja said.

Continuing his attack, Raja said BJP at the centre has no answer for any of the questions raised by opposition parties, including those about Adani, Hindenburg report, Bilkis Bano and the increasing debt of the country. “Whatever we ask, the reply is just Jai Shri ram," he said. BJP functionaries across the country have condemned Raja for his remarks.


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