'In North India a woman can marry 10 men': Stalin's minister's shameful statement, warns of cutting tongue

Delimitation Standoff: Senior Tamil Nadu minister Durai Murugan made a controversial statement on Thursday (13 March) alleging that North Indian culture includes having multiple spouses. He also warned that the tongues of those who insult Tamil will be cut off. This statement is expected to further widen the gap between Tamil Nadu and the Centre amid the proposed delimitation and language dispute. At present, there is a heated argument going on between the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government over the 'imposition of Hindi' through NEP i.e. National Education Policy and the proposed delimitation of parliamentary constituencies.

Addressing a public meeting, the minister claimed that unlike Tamil customs, north Indian traditions promote polygamy and polyandry. Referring to the 'Mahabharata', the minister alleged that north Indian culture allows a woman to marry five or 10 men. He made this statement in the context of Draupadi's marriage to the five Pandavas in the Mahabharata.

"In our culture, one man marries one woman. But in north India, a woman can marry five or 10 men. Also, five men can marry one woman. That's their culture. If one leaves, another takes his place," Murugan said, according to India Today.

"The Congress and those ruling at the Centre asked us to control population. We did it then and now the population has reduced. But the population in north India has not reduced. They have 17, 18, 19 children. They have no other work," the senior DMK leader said.

Referring to Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's alleged derogatory remarks against DMK MPs in Parliament, Murugan warned those who insult Tamils. "Coming from this stinking culture and you are calling us uncivilised? We will cut off your tongue. Be careful," the DMK minister said.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday alleged that the new National Education Policy (NEP) is a saffron policy aimed at promoting Hindi. He also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to retain its power by increasing the number of seats in its dominant northern states through the proposed delimitation of parliamentary constituencies.

According to PTI, Stalin, while addressing a public meeting organised to denounce the central government, alleged that the BJP was trying to increase the number of its MPs in states where it has stronghold and thus strengthen the party. He said that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) would foil this attempt of the BJP.

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Stalin further said, "We oppose NEP 2020 as it will completely destroy Tamil Nadu's progress in the education sector." He claimed that NEP does not accept reservation, which is social justice. The DMK chief alleged that the central government was trying to impose caste-based education in the name of vocational education.