india

Updated: Aug 21, 2019 13:27 IST

Days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wrote to the Election Commission seeking to ban the principal opposition in Tamil Nadu, the DMK, the ruling AIADMK joined the chorus on Tuesday, accusing its Dravidian rival of acting against the unity and integrity of the nation.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s fierce opposition to the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution, stripping of statehood besides the special status to Jammu and Kashmir, is tantamount to supporting divisive forces, AIADMK’s senior leader and state fisheries minister D Jayakumar said while speaking to the media. The AIADMK is an ally of the BJP.

“While everyone is lauding the BJP government’s bold decision of scrapping article 370 in Kashmir, the DMK has taken a stance against the move. In the Kashmir issue, the DMK is speaking in a manner that is against national unity. Hence, the Union government should ban DMK,” Jayakumar contended.

Significantly, this demand comes a day after the DMK announced a protest against the detention of political leaders in Kashmir.

DMK president MK Stalin on Monday had announced that the party MP’s would stage a protest demonstration along with like-minded parties at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on August 22 (Thursday).

Earlier, AIADMK leader and state dairy development minister Rajenthira Bhalaji had charged Stalin with speaking like Pakistan’s prime minister Imran Khan. “While Pakistan is encouraging terrorism, the DMK is cheering secessionism,” he had said.

The BJP’s state secretary Srinivasan had on Saturday written to the EC, demanding a ban on the DMK. This was after the DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai’s comment that ‘Kashmir was never a part of India,” during a television debate in a national channel.

“Since the DMK spokesperson had spoken against the sovereignty and unity of India, his party should be banned,” the BJP leader said in his petition.

Meanwhile, Saravanan issued a clarification saying his statement had been misinterpreted.

“I had taken part in a debate on a private English News Channel on August 12. While recalling the pre-independent era, I said, ‘Kashmir was not an integral part of India’,” he explained.

“However, those harbouring hatred towards the DMK have misinterpreted my words. We in the DMK are always working for the nation’s interest. We are not against the country. People who are against the BJP are not against India,” he said.