NEW DELHI: Congress on Tuesday lashed out at Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi over his "secularism was an European concept" comment calling it "outrageous and unacceptable". Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh called for the sacking of Ravi, calling him a "disgrace."
"This man, who has taken an oath on the Constitution, and who - inspite of his drumbeating - remains a Constitutional functionary, should be sacked forthwith. He is a disgrace," he said in a post on X.
Ramesh called Ravi a "trial balloon floater" and claimed that he was echoing what the Prime Minister wants to get done.
"This is not the first outrageous and unacceptable statement he has made. But he is only a trial balloon floater. He is echoing what the non-biological PM wants to get done," he said.
The Tamil Nadu governor had stoked controversy on Monday after he alleged that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had introduced secularism in the Constitution during the emergency to "appease some sections of people".
"Secularism is not a Bhartiya concept, it is an European concept, let it be there, let them be happy with it. How can India be away from Dharma? " Ravi told a convocation of Hindu Dharma Vidya Peetham at Thiruvattar in Kanyakumari.
"In Europe, secularism came because there was a fight between the church and the king. They wanted to stop the fight which had been going on for hundreds of years. So they advocated separation between the Church and the King to ensure there was no interference with each other. In India, there is no need for secularism," he added.
Ravi's comments had also drawn sharp criticism from DMK, who said that he should "go and read the Constitution".
"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. 22 languages are listed in our Constitution. Hindi is a language which is spoken by a few states. The remaining states speak other languages. The problem with the BJP is that they neither know India, nor the Constitution," DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said.
It wasn't the first time that the Tamil Nadu Governor had controversy with his comments on secularism. Last year, he had said that those who wish to divide the country have misinterpreted the concept of secularism.
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