New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi on Sunday criticised DMK leader RS Bharathi for allegedly 'insulting' the Naga people after he referred to them as 'dog eaters,' reported news agency PTI.
Governor Ravi called the remark scurrilous and unacceptable.
His remark was posted on the social media platform "X" by TN Raj Bhavan. It said: "Nagas are brave, honest and dignified people. Thiru R S Bharathi a senior DMK leader publicly insulting them as ‘Dog eaters’ is scurrilous and unacceptable. I urge Mr Bharathi not to hurt a community of which the whole of India is proud."
The Raj Bhavan also posted a video clip of Bharathi's comment.
However, Bharathi in an event prefaced his remark as 'only an example' and underscored that it should not be mistaken.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Narayanan Thirupathy said, "DMK leader RS Bharathi has insulted the people of Nagaland. Either he should apologise or he should be arrested and put behind bars."
When the people of Nagaland, who eat dog meat, with so much sense of dignity, chased Ravi and made him run away from that state, the Tamil people's sense of dignity, who eat rice with salt, should not be forgotten, the DMK leader purportedly said.
Ravi was 'driven out' of Nagaland by the people of the northeastern state and they celebrated his exit like the Deepavali festival, according to the video clip posted on "X".
A former Rajya Sabha MP, Bharathi is also the DMK's organisation secretary. He made the remarks at a party event held to mark the centenary of late party patriarch M Karunanidhi.