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DMK, CPI(M) slam BJP for tweeting Thiruvalluvar’s photo in saffron attire
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the DMK’s ally in Tamil Nadu, also joined in, saying the BJP was attempting to degrade the name of a poet known for his work Thirukkural.
A tweet by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tamil Nadu unit with a picture of Tamil poet-saint Thiruvalluvar in a saffron attire drew the ire of the DMK and CPI(M) on Sunday.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief MK Stalin said the BJP’s move was a ‘Tamil betrayal’ after it tweeted an image of Thiruvalluvar in a saffron dhoti with sacred ash on his forehead and biceps and wearing rudraksha beads on his neck.
The BJP also posted a couplet along with the photo describing the use of education for a person if they don’t pray at god’s feet.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) attempt to saffronise Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar is an attempt to grow the party in Tamil Nadu,” Stalin said in a tweet.
Stalin said the colour would run off even if it was dyed several times.
“Instead of dyeing, read the Thirukkural and try to reform,” Stalin advised.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the DMK’s ally in Tamil Nadu, also joined in, saying the BJP was attempting to degrade the name of a poet known for his work Thirukkural.
“Thiruvalluvar had written the Thirukkural for the whole human society and not for a specific caste or religion. However, the BJP which wants to inherit Thiruvalluvar as a religious-oriented poet had posted his picture with saffron attire. It is highly condemnable,” said K Balakrishnan, the state secretary of the CPI(M).
BJP leader SR Sekar shot back at the criticisms and pointed out that it was the DMK which had changed the Thiruvallur’s original saffron attire into a white dhoti without ash and rudraksha on his forehead and biceps.
“Several Thirukkural translations released in 1810, 1885, 1935, 1970 had witnessed Thiruvallur wearing a saffron attire. However, it was the DMK’s then-chief M Karunanidhi who changed the attire in his period into the white dhoti,” Sekar posted on Twitter.
The Tamil Nadu government’s official image of Thiruvalluvar has the poet in a white dhoti and no sacred ash on his forehead.
Also, the Thai translation of Thirukkural released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an event in Bangkok on Saturday had Thiruvallur in a white dhoti and no holy ash.
Thirukkural or sacred verses has more than 1300 couplets on various aspects of life including ethics and morality.
