"Break India project that British started still continues...," Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi said that those denying the existence of Lord Ram and the fact that India was one nation were trying to destroy Tamil culture.

Speaking at a book launch event in Chennai on Monday, the Governor, attacked DMK MP A Raja, without mentioning the leader by name and said it was ironic that Tamil people, from a land which produced so many rishis and siddhars, were "struggling to show who they were."

'It is ironical that the place which was built by all the 'Rishis' thousands of years ago and whose ideas created Bharat...Yet they struggling to say we are Bharat. The 'break India' project that the British started still continues," RN Ravi said.

He further said that the collaborators with the British denied that India was a nation, they denied Lord Ram's existence, and they were destroying the culture and identity of the Tamil people.

"Some people deny India is not a nation. They deny that Lord Ram exists. When you deny, you are trying to destroy the culture and identity of the Tamil people..denying reality," he added

The DMK leader earlier stoked a row by stating that Tamil Nadu will never accept BJP's ideology of "this is Jai Sri Ram, this is Bharat mata ki jai."

Recently, in a purported video, A Raja was seen addressing a meeting, where he said, "India is not a [one] nation. Understand this well. India has never been one nation. One nation denotes one language, one tradition and one culture, and only such characteristics make one nation."

"If you say it's this God, this is Jai Sri Ram, this is Bharat Mata ki jai, then we and Tamil Nadu will never accept Bharat Mata and Jai Shri Ram," Raja had said while addressing a public event in Madurai.

Last year, the DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin had made remarks comparing 'Sanatana Dharma' to diseases like 'malaria' and 'dengue' while advocating for its elimination on grounds that it was rooted in the caste system and historical discrimination.

His remarks triggered a massive political controversy across the country. It led to several criminal complaints being filed against him..