Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Thursday said the party’s opposition to Ram temple in Ayodhya was only on the grounds that it has been constructed after demolishing the Babri Masjid, while clarifying that it was not against any religion.
Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin said the DMK’s stand on religion and Ram temple in Ayodhya was clarified by none other than the party patriarch M Karunanidhi decades ago.
“Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) said the DMK was not against any faith. We don’t have a problem with the (Ram) temple being constructed there. We are not in agreement with the temple coming up at the place where Babri Masjid once stood. We opposed demolition of the masjid and we are clear we don’t want to mix politics and religion,” Udhayanidhi said.
On Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami’s statement that attending Ram temple inauguration was a personal choice, Udhayanidhi took a dig at the AIADMK saying the party had sent kar sevaks to Ayodhya during the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple Movement.
Udhay’s statement comes two days after the DMK accused the BJP of politicising the inauguration of Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22 keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections. Party treasurer T R Baalu had on Sunday said the DMK believes in not mixing spirituality and politics while taking a dig at the BJP for using an individual’s faith as “an investment for vote-bank politics''.
“People of India will reject the BJP’s blatant attempt to convert a spiritual event into a political one,” Baalu had said. He also accused the BJP of not fulfilling promises made to the people during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Published 18 January 2024, 06:27 IST