CHENNAI: The DMK and CPM have decried the BJP for portraying saint poet Thiruvalluvar as a Hindu saint. Besides them, many pro-Tamil activists’ hashtag of BJPInsultsThiruvalluvar is trending.
DMK president MK Stalin tweeted on Sunday, “ Thiruvalluvar said birth is common for all lives. It would be treachery to call him to support the saffron party.
“Your colour will fade no matter how many colours you paint”. He urged BJP to read Thirukkural and reform itself. Besides, he used #BJPInsultsThiruvalluvar hashtag.
In a statement, CPM State secretary K Balakrishnan said “ Thiruvallur is being held in high esteem worldwide without any caste, religion, language and national boundaries. None has tried to portray him as one belonging to any political party. But, the BJP tries to paint him with some of their identities as they had no rich history to be proud of itself. He further added that Tamils never tolerate such humiliation on the saint-poet. The party urged the BJP to stop degrading Thiruvallur. It should take appropriate action against those responsible.
The hashtag has been trending since Sunday morning. Till 6.20 pm, it stood first in the country and nearly 21.2 K tweets were shared.
Meanwhile, BJP, Tamilnadu, tweeted on Sunday evening that “if MK Stalin recites the couplet with meaning and without any mistakes we will remove the post”. It referred to the couplet “ Yaakaavaaraayinum Naa Kaakka, Kaavaakkaal Sokaappar Sollizhukkuppattu”. Around 1000 tweeteorites liked the tweet of BJP Tamilnadu till 6.20 pm.
It may be recalled that the controversy erupted after BJP, Tamilnadu unit posted a Thiruvalluvar portrait on November 2 in which he was wearing a saffron dress. Sacred ash had been smeared and he wore a Rudraksham like a Hindu saint.