VSK
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalitha as always greeted the Hindus on Janmashtami day. In her statement, she said, ?Sri Krishna'suniqueness lies not only in the fact that he was an avatar but also in that he authored the Bhagwadgita, which is acclaimed today the world over.? This gave the DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi, an opportunity to dash off a statement questioning the Dravidian credentials of Jayalalitha because she had dared to glorify the Gita ?while Thirukkural is the universal book?.
Karunanidhi, also reportedly ran down the character of Sri Krishna on this occasion. Having decided not to leave any onslaught on Hindus unanswered, Hindu Munnani'sShri Ramagopalan met Karunanidhi and presented him a copy of the Gita on August 7. This had a salutary effect. Karunanidhi had to climb down and explained, ?We did not say anything against the Bhagawadgita. We don'thate it. It is only that it contains the ideas that are unacceptable to our Dravidian movement. We oppose Jayalalitha alone, who claims that she is a Dravidian leader, but she recommends reading a book that is unacceptable to the Dravidian movement.?
Shri Ramagopalan wrote a letter to Shri Karunanidhi asking him not to run down the Gita in order to prove that Thirukural was superior. He pointed out that savants had observed that there could be more than one universal book. (VSK)
