By IANS
Chennai : Refusing to apologise for his remarks on Lord Ram, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Thursday came up with more remarks of a similar nature even as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani demanded that he withdraw his statements.
Challenging Advani to “an open debate” on Valmiki’s Ramayana, Karunanidhi told a TV channel in the afternoon: “I have not said anything more than Valmiki, who wrote the Ramayana. Valmiki had even said Ram was a drunkard. Have I said so?
“Is Advani ready to discuss the Ramayana with me on the same platform after going through the Valmiki Ramayana fully?”
When reporters told him that Advani had said, “Ram is as real as the Himalayas and the Ganges”, Karunanidhi responded: “Ram is as unreal as the Himalayas and the Ganges are real”.
The chief minister’s comments came on a day when Advani said here that Karunanidhi should “withdraw” his “statements on Ram”.
The fresh remarks came as a surprise since the DMK president had adopted a somewhat placatory note earlier in the day.
“My intention was not to hurt anyone’s feeling but only to ensure that the Sethusamudram Canal project is implemented,” Karunanidhi told the media after a meeting of DMK’s top leaders at the Anna Arivalayam, the party headquarters, earlier in the afternoon to discuss the party’s strategy on the controversy over the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project.
“It is a century-old dream of the Tamil people…that is the DMK objective,” he said.
But soon after, speaking to the electronic media, Karunanidhi changed the tone once again and challenged Advani.
Upset with the demand of pro-Hindutva groups to stop the shipping canal project, Karunanidhi has repeatedly said Lord Ram is a myth and an imaginary figure.
The BJP and affiliated groups have been opposing the project on the grounds that it will damage the Ram Sethu – held sacred by millions of Hindus.
The central government, of which DMK is a part, wants to press ahead with the project, as it will cut short the navigational distance between the eastern and western coasts of India by nearly 800 km.
The government had even submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court Sep 12, questioning the historical existence of Lord Ram, but withdrew it after strong protests from the BJP and the pro-Hindutva groups.
“I would like the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi, to withdraw his statements (on Ram), which I regard as an affront, pouring contempt on the religious feelings of the majority in the country,” Advani told the media here.
Advani, on his way back from Palayamkottai where he attended the state council meet of the party, said in Chennai, “Elections are likely to take place in early
2008”.
He did not answer a question on whether the BJP would ally with the AIADMK in the election, but said, “The Congress and Left parties are the only inimical ones. The party (BJP) will not hesitate to have alliances with others.”
Talking about the attack on the house of Karunanidhi’s elder daughter Selvi in Bangalore this week, Advani said the Sangh Parivar, or the fraternity of Hindu religious parties, was not responsible for it.
“Whoever did it, we strongly condemn the attack,” Advani said.
Advani also said he was in Chennai to visit Jana Krishnamurthy, a former BJP president, “who has been ill for the last one month”.