Seeking to take the wind of critisism for his anti-Ram Remarks, DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi said he had nothing against Ram as a human prince.
CHENNAI: Seeking to take the wind of critisism for his anti-Ram Remarks, DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi on Tuesday said he had nothing against Ram as a human prince and said even late Rajaji, who had authored a book on Ram, had stated that Ram was a human prince and he did not attach any divinity with Him.
Karunanidhi, while distributing state film awards for 2005 and 2006, referred to the remarks made by superstar Rajnikant that he (Karunanidhi) should initiate efforts to talk to north Indian politicians to find an amicable solution to the Ram Sethu issue.
"In the foreword in his book Chakravarty Thirumagan (son of an emperor), Rajaji has said that Ramayana was an epic and not history. He described Rama as a human prince who did good work for the society," he said while asking one and all to differentiate between epic and history.
"I have nothing against Rama and will welcome the good work done by him,"
Rajni has always been a true believer and known for his divine visits to the Himalayas. In fact, one of his Tamil films, Baba, was a mouth piece of his religious belief that even showed the protagonist scaling the icy Himalayas to meet a 'Mahavtar Baba', revered by the actor in real life.
Asserting that the BJP government headed by then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee had implemented the Sethu Samudram project, the Chief Minister said that then BJP ministers including S Thirunavukkarasar cleared the project.
"Whether it be the DMK, AIADMK or the Left parties, all have mentioned in their various poll manifestos that the project would lead to the development of the state," he said.
Karunanidhi asked Rajnikant to talk to his 'saint friends' in North India and convince them that Sethu Samudram project would put the state on the path of development and therefore they should not protest against it.
"He travels extensively in North India and can tell his friends that Karunanidhi is not against Rama as even his mentor's name had Ram," he said referring to the late EV Ramasamy Periyar.
Karunanidhi said that the project was first envisaged by the British, but later dropped. Former late chief ministers like C N Annadurai and K Kamaraj also tried to give life to it.
Asserting that the project would augur well for the state as well as national economy, he said there should be no obstacles in the name of religion or others.
"It is just a project like Bhakra Nangal or any other," he said while adding 'some elements in North India who did not want Tamil Nadu to develop into a prospering state were opposing the project in the name of Rama.'
He said that 75 per cent of work of the project was over.
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