Gita row: DMK slams BJP for thrusting communalism in Tamil Nadu

Thanjavur: The Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Monday said placing of an engraved 'Bhagavad Gita' near the statue of late president APJ Abdul Kalam at his memorial, amounted to the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP)attempt to "thrust communalism in Tamil Nadu".

DMK working president MK Stalin said he would have appreciated if a copy of the 'Thirukkural' (Tamil classic and a moral treatise) was placed near the statue.

He, however, said none should feel that it was due to a hatred for the Gita, but because no individual religious identity should be imposed.

"Kalam spent his life for India's security. They have created an unfortunate situation of associating him with a particular religion," he said.

"It is because BJP is engaged in an attempt to thrust communalism in Tamil Nadu," Stalin said. An engraved 'Bhagavad Gita' near the statue of late President APJ Abdul Kalam had kicked up a controversy on Sunday, with his family seeking to end the row by placing a copy of the Quran and Bible near it.

Hours later, officials manning the memorial kept the Bible and Quran in a glass box in the vicinity of the statue after a local Hindu outfit leader registered a police complaint stating that no permission was taken to place the holy books (of Bible and Quran) near the statue.

Stalin said the act of removing the Quran and Bible showed that the Centre was "denigrating" the late president and using his influence for politics.

"Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palanisamy's regime is spineless to even object to it," he said.

The memorial at Peikarumbu in Rameswaram was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27.

Meanwhile, expressing his solidarity with the protesting villagers at nearby Kathiramangalam against an ONGC pipeline  project, the leader of opposition in the state assembly said his party would always stand behind them.