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Taking a sharp jibe at Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on his secularism remarks, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat on Monday said \u2018it is a shame\u2019 and expressed that such a person should not have bee appointed as the governor of an important state like Tamil Nadu.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“This governor has taken oath in the name of Constitution I presume…secularism is very much part of our Constitution…separation of religion from politics is very much part of our Constitution…tomorrow he will say the Constitution of India itself is a foreign concept, this is what the RSS understanding is..it is a shame that such person has been appointed as governor of such an important state like Tamil Nadu,” she told ANI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
CPI(M) leader further said that it is the “RSS understanding,” and tomorrow he might say that the Constitution is also a “foreign concept.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The controversy started with Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi commenting that secularism is a “European concept” that “doesn’t belong to India.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Speaking at an event, he said “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.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Further, noting that there is \u201cno need of secularism in India\u201d, he added, “In Europe, secularism came because there was a fight between the church and the king, How can India be away from “Dharma”? Secularism is a European concept, and let it be there only. In India, there is no need for secularism.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
RN Ravi’s comments were strongly criticised by opposition leaders like P Chidambaram, D Raja and others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Notably, this is not the first time the Tamil Nadu Governor has made such remarks. Last year, he said that the people who want to break this country have given a distorted interpretation of secularism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“Our Constitution is not against ‘dharma’ …it is the people who want to break this country, they have given a distorted interpretation of secularism. We have to understand the true meaning of secularism in our constitution…. those talking about eradicating Hinduism have a hidden agenda to break this country in collaboration with hostile foreign powers. They will not succeed as Bharat has inherent strength,” the Tamil Governor had said<\/p>\n<\/div>\n