New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday claimed that DMK MP A Raja derided Lord Ram and questioned the idea of India in a recent “hate speech”. BJP leader Amit Malviya posted the purported speech on X and said the controversial MP called for the “balkanisation of India”.The fresh row erupted a day after the Supreme Court made critical observations against DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin over his contentious ‘Sanatan Dharma’ remarks.

“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,” he wrote on X.

Amit Malviya posted the video of the speech in Tamil. He also shared the English translation of the alleged remarks.

Also read: DMK’s A Raja says don’t push us to walk Periyar’s path for separate Tamil Nadu, sparks row

“India is not a nation. Understand this well. India is never a nation. One nation means one language, one tradition and one culture. Then only it is one nation. India is not a nation but a subcontinent. What’s the reason? Here, Tamil is one nation and one country. Malayalam is one language, one nation and one country. Oriya is a nation, a language and a country. All these nations make up India. So, India is not a country, it is a subcontinent. There are so many traditions and cultures. If you come to Tamil Nadu, there’s a culture. In Kerala, there’s another culture. In Delhi, there’s another culture. In Oriya, there’s another culture. Why in Manipur, as RS Bharathi said, they eat dog meat. Yes, it is true, they eat. That’s a culture. There’s nothing wrong. It’s all in our mind,” A Raja said, per Amit Malviya’s translation.

Per Amit Malviya, A Raja said “we are enemies of Ram”.

“If you say this is God. If this is your Jai Sri Ram, if this is your Bharat Mata Ki Jai, we will never accept that Jai Sri Ram and Bharat Mata. Tamil Nadu won’t accept. You go and tell, we’re enemies of Ram. I don’t have faith in Ramayana, and lord Ram. If you say that in the name of the Ramayana is human harmony, where four brothers are born as siblings, one Kuravar as brother, one Hunter as brother, another monkey as another brother, another monkey as the 6th brother, then your Jai Sri Ram is Chi! Idiots!,” he said.

Also read: ‘Sanatana like HIV, leprosy’: After Udhayanidhi, DMK MP A Raja triggers row

A Raja’s purported speech has drawn a sharp reaction from Ayodhya’s Hanuman Garhi temple’s chief priest.

“Whatever the DMK leader said is condemnable. The entire world is ‘Ram may’…We will write to the PM and the President about this,” said Ramesh Das.

Also read: Udhayanidhi Stalin pulled up by Supreme Court over Sanatana remark: ‘You are not a layman’

Union minister Anurag Thakur said the DMK leader is part of the tukde-tukde gang.

“They are the people who abuse Hindi, talk about ending India, support the ‘tukde tukde’ gang and raise slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ after their leader wins the Rajya Sabha elections. They are the people who want to destroy Indian culture. They have formed the ‘INDI’ alliance but their arrogance is coming out. What was the compulsion that they had to raise slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ and support ‘tukde-tukde’ gang not just one but a lot of times,” he said.

With inputs from ANI