Today, Monday, September 23, the Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi sparked a row with his remark that secularism is a European concept and that it does not belong to India, as stated in a report by Hindustan Times.
This was during a convocation ceremony of the Hindu Dharma Vidya Peetham at Thiruvattar in Kanyakumari, where Ravi said, "A lot of frauds have been committed to the people of this country, and one of them is that they have been given a wrong interpretation of secularism. What does secularism mean!? Secularism is a European concept; secularism is not a Bhartiya concept."
Following this, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) slammed the governor over his remarks.
DMK Spokesperson TKS Elangovan said, “Secularism is the most needed concept in India, not in Europe. Particularly the Governor, he had not gone through the Constitution of India."
He further added, "Article 25 says that there should be a conscious freedom of religion that he doesn't know. He should go and read the Constitution fully. Twenty two languages are listed in our constitution."
In addition to this, not only Elangovan , but CPI (Communist Party of India) leader D Raja too stood against the governor. He said, "I strongly deplore the statement made by RN Ravi. What does he know about secularism? What does he know about India?"
Furthermore, D Raja went on to say, "He is a governor...he must abide by the Constitution. The Constitution of India defines India as a secular democratic republic."
