DMK president M.K. Stalin on Wednesday said the people of Tamil Nadu knew the difference between politics and spiritualism, and they could not be taken for granted.
“Some try to make bhakti a commodity for politics. They try to take advantage of people’s spiritual leaning since they do not have any ideology or achievements to boast about,” he said.
Addressing a conference, ‘Idhayangalai Inaippom’ (Let us unite hearts), organised by the DMK minorities’ wing in Chennai, Mr. Stalin said while politics was the people’s right, spiritualism was something to do with their soul. “These two cannot be confused and used for short-changing people. Tamil Nadu’s politics has proved that,” he said.
Reiterating that the relationship between the DMK and the minorities had continued for generations, Mr. Stalin said the late DMK leader M. Karunanidhi used to keep issues of Kudiarasu and Darul Islam publications, in the initial years of his political career, in Tiruvarur. “It was the Muslim community that acted as a bridge between DMK founder Anna and Kalaignar (Karunanidhi). Anna, who came to Tiruvarur to participate in Milad-un-Nabi, asked about Kalaignar and the meeting brought them together,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said the Citizenship Amendment Act became a reality because of the votes polled in favour of it by the AIADMK and PMK Lok Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss. “The Act has betrayed the interests of the Muslims and the Sri Lankan Tamils. But Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said it would not affect anyone. If a census is conducted, a lot of people will lose citizenship,” he said.
Recalling late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s speech that her biggest mistake was an alliance with the BJP, he wondered whether Mr. Palaniswami was aware of it [as the AIADMK has now aligned with the party].
