DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran’s remarks that Tamil Nadu uplifts women while northern states confine them to kitchens and childbearing, and prioritise Hindi over English, have ignited a political controversy in the state, with the BJP accusing the Dravidian party of always “trying to divide north and south”.
Maran spoke at an event where the ruling DMK government distributed free laptops to college students under a scheme that chief minister MK Stalin launched earlier this month.
Global giants establish bases in Tamil Nadu thanks to its educated youth, Maran said. “But if you go to other states, they ask (youngsters) what you’re going to do by studying? They tell them to study only Hindi and not even touch English so they can remain subordinates,” he added. “That’s where there is unemployment in these states, and they migrate, and they come to our state.”
The DMK government’s model delivers social justice and equal development to girls and women, Maran stated. He addressed students at Quaid-E-Millath Government College for Women in Chennai, where deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin also attended.
“The laptops our government has distributed are used by the beneficiaries to study…,” Maran said, as quoted by ANI on Tuesday. “This is what we are proud of. This is the reason we in Tamil Nadu ask you to study. But in the states in northern India, women are told not to do jobs and are asked to stay inside the house, work in the kitchen and give birth to children. But Tamil Nadu is a Dravidian state, where importance is given to your upliftment.”
BJP Mahila Morcha national president Vanathi Srinivasan said Maran had targeted North Indians before. “DMK is always trying to divide north and south,” she remarked. “It is their core ideology.” She noted that many youngsters from Maran’s native district in Tamil Nadu lack jobs and have migrated to the Middle East, Singapore and Malaysia.
“How can they target and abuse people from North India? This is completely wrong. You can claim your achievements. There is nothing wrong with that, but you cannot demean others,” said BJP Tamil Nadu spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy.