'Racist' comment against south Indians: DMK slams Tarun Vijay, CPI demands apology

Former BJP MP Tarun Vijay kicked up a racism row on Thursday after he appeared to suggest that Indians cannot be called racist as people live with those from south India who are “black”.

Vijay’s controversial comments during a panel discussion on an international news channel sparked an outrage with the Congress saying it was shocking while the DMK said it was funny.

However, T K S Elangovan of DMK took a jibe on BJP MP when he said that “Not all people in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are black. Our leader Dr Kalignar is far, Jayalalithaa was fair,"

Demanding an apology from Vijay over his 'condemnable' statement, CPI leader D. Raja said the BJP should denounce such remark.

Seeking to defend India against the charge of racism following attacks on African students, Tarun Vijay said, “If we (Indians) were racist, why would we have the entire south?  Which is you know... completely Tamil, you know Kerala, you know Karnataka and Andhra. Why do we live with them? We have blacks, black people all around us”.

Vijay, a former editor of RSS-affiliated weekly Panchjanya, claimed that people with African ancestors have been living amicably in Maharashtra and Gujarat. He also said Indians worship black gods and referred to Lord Krishna.

Also Read: BJP's Tarun Vijay says 'Indians cannot be called racist as they live with black people from South India', apologises after controversy