A Tamil Nadu Minister has stoked a major controversy by claiming that spawning of “Hindu extremism” cannot be stopped if some political parties and outfits continue to support and “create Islamic extremism” in the state.
Dairy Development Minister KT Rajenthra Bhalaji, who has a penchant for making controversial statements, accused principal opposition party, DMK, and others of harbouring “Islamic extremists” in Tamil Nadu. He also alleged that the murder of a local BJP functionary in Tiruchirappalli smacks of “religious vendetta” though the police say the motive seems to be the previous enmity between the perpetrator and the victim.
The controversial comments snowballed into a political issue with Leader of Opposition and DMK President M K Stalin demanding the immediate sacking of Bhalaji for “sowing seeds of violence and spewing venom.”
“There may be several reasons for the murder. But the way he (the BJP functionary) was murdered shows religion is behind. The murder was being planned for a month and it is clearly a case of religious hatred.
The enmity between the two is true but that enmity is being used by others to settle scores,” Rajenthra Bhalaji told a Tamil television during an interview.
He continued to say, “spawning of Hindu extremism cannot be stopped” if outfits like DMK “continue to instigate, support and create Islamic extremism.” The Minister, who had advocated violence against actor Kamal Haasan that independent India’s first terrorist was a Hindu, Nathuram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, justified his remarks saying he was not supporting any religion but only stating the facts.
38-year-old F Vijaya Raghu, a BJP functionary, was hacked to death on January 27 by a group of unidentified men. While the BJP claims religion was behind the murder, the police maintain “the previous enmity” as the reason.
In his statement, Stalin said Governor Banwarilal Purohit should not sack Bhalaji from the Cabinet but also act according to the law against him.
“It is condemnable that minister Rajenthra Bhalaji is attempting to usher in violence in the country by harboring spewing poison. He is openly flouting the law after having taken an oath as minister in accordance with the law,” he said in the statement.