CHENNAI: CLARIFYING his remarks on Nagas, DMK’s organising secretary RS Bharathi on Monday told Governor RN Ravi to properly learn Tamil and try to understand the context in which he made those remarks.
Talking to reporters, Bharathi said, “I said people of Nagaland are courageous and drove away Ravi for issuing an order to prohibit the consumption of dog meat, which is a cultural norm there. People of Nagaland had rejected Ravi and his action in Tamil Nadu will also evoke the similar response from people here. It may be that even a group of PhD scholars boycotted Ravi’s recent convocation programme in Madurai.”
As regards the order, Bharathi said the Gauhati High Court set it aside in June this year, recognising the cultural norm of Naga people. “Ravi’s recent statement was made only to create trouble for the opposition INDIA bloc, but he will not succeed in tarnishing the image of the alliance,” Bharathi said.
Meanwhile, BJP state president K Annamalai told reporters in Tiruchy, “Nagaland is a beautiful state with wonderful people. But, Bharathi said they are people who eat dog meat and people in Tamil Nadu eat food with salt. He has spoken about Nagaland people in a derogatory manner.
The Tamil Nadu police should have filed a case and arrested him but they did not do so. Bharathi has been consistently criticising me and Ravi in a very disrespectful manner. If someone from Nagaland files a complaint in a police station under section 153A, Bharathi can be arrested under non-bailable section and taken to Nagaland.”
(With inputs from Tiruchy)