The former union minister said he regretted if his remarks offended anyone, seeking to put an end to the controversy.
Published Jan 03, 2024 | 12:46 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 03, 2024 | 12:47 PM
Dayanidhi Maran. (X)
DMK leader and Lok Sabha MP Dayanidhi Maran on Tuesday, 2 January, expressed regret for his comments on workers, an issue in which he faced flak on social media. He said his words had been misunderstood.
The former Union minister said he regretted if his remarks offended anyone, seeking to put an end to the controversy.
Recently, a video of the DMK parliamentarian allegedly making a derogatory remark against Uttar Pradesh and Bihar workers went viral on social media.
In the video, he is heard saying that people who learnt only Hindi in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were engaged in menial jobs like cleaning toilets in Tamil Nadu. He made the controversial statement while addressing a party meeting, against the imposition of Hindi, in 2019.
The clip of the old speech, presented as a recent statement, went viral on social media and was endorsed by several BJP leaders.
Later, when reporters sought his reaction to an old video of his doing the rounds on social media, Maran said it was the work of a “jobless barber”.
He accused the BJP IT wing of being desperate to stoke a controversy to gain political mileage and said that the saffron party’s IT wing would not succeed.
Taking to the social media platform X today, Maran said, “A situation leading to the fall of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has arisen as the people’s sufferings are more than the BJP’s achievements during the nine years of its rule.”
“Hence, the IT wing of the BJP is hectically involved in diverting the people’s attention by posting doctored speeches and videos of the Opposition parties on social media. My response to a question from reporters has been misunderstood. I humbly state that at no point in time have I ever intended to hurt any individual or particular section. I express regret if my comments have offended anyone,” he said in the post.
கடந்த ஒன்பது ஆண்டுகால ஒன்றிய பாஜக அரசின் மக்களுக்கான சாதனைகள் என்று சொல்லுவதைக்காட்டிலும் வேதனைகளே அதிக அளவில் உள்ள காரணத்தினால், நடைபெறவிருக்கும் நாடாளுமன்ற தேர்தலில் இந்தியா முழுவதும் பிரதமர் மோடி அவர்களின் தலைமையிலான பாஜக அரசு பெருத்த சரிவை சந்திக்கக் கூடிய சூழல் உருவாகி… pic.twitter.com/y272lojd7z
— Dayanidhi Maran தயாநிதி மாறன் (@Dayanidhi_Maran) January 2, 2024
In his speech in Tamil, the former Union minister stressed the importance of English education. The controversial statement dates back to June 2019.
Maran had claimed that those who acquired proficiency in English got respectable jobs in the IT sector, unlike residents of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, who knew only Hindi and ended up migrating to richer states like Tamil Nadu for “cleaning toilets and roads and working as construction labourers.”
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla posted the video on X and questioned the Opposition bloc INDIA on Saturday. The post did not mention that Maran’s video was from 2019.
He further questioned the INDIA bloc leaders if they would condemn this.
Once again an attempt to play the Divide & Rule card
First Rahul Gandhi insulted North Indian voters
Then Revanth Reddy abused Bihar DNA
Then DMK MP Senthil Kumar said “Gaumutra states”
Now Dayanidhi Maran insults Hindi speakers and North
Abusing Hindus / Sanatan, then… https://t.co/tYWnIAsnvK pic.twitter.com/8Krb1KmPEP
— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) December 23, 2023
The video that went viral on 23 December pitted Opposition INDIA bloc parties against each other.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on 24 December, condemned Maran’s alleged remarks.
Yadav said like his RJD, the DMK headed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was a party that believed in social justice and it was unbecoming of a leader of such a party to make such a remark.
“We look upon the DMK as a party which shares our ideal of social justice. Its leaders should avoid saying things that run counter to the ideal”, Yadav, who is known to share personal equations with Stalin, said.
The ruling Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, of which the RJD is the largest constituent, and the DMK-helmed Secular Progressive Alliance, are now part of the INDIA bloc.
It wasn’t only RJD that condemned the video of Maran’s statement from 2019. Leaders of the Congress, which is DMK’s alliance partner in Tamil Nadu, deemed the statement “unacceptable.” AICC spokesperson Pawan Khera deemed it a “rude statement”.
(With PTI inputs)
