Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai on Tuesday contended that Bharat (India) was not united by “an order issued for administrative convenience” or by an emperor with huge force, but by sages and ‘vishwa gurus’, such as Adi Shankara and Madhwacharya who travelled across the country bare-foot.
Speaking at a function organised at Sri Vijayaraja Matha, Chennai, to mark the visit of Sri Sri Vidyadeesha Teertha Swami, the head of Sri Palimaru Matha in Udupi, Mr. Annamalai said the sages united the country through dialogue and their knowledge.
He said though Tamil Nadu was a land of temples and spirituality, the State’s politics did not reflect the society. “Politics should ideally reflect society. However, the gap between the two is wider in Tamil Nadu than in many other States. Only when we reduce the gap, India will see the true Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Concurring with the remarks made by Dushyanth Sridhar, a public speaker on sanatana dharma, at the event, Mr. Annamalai said even he would not have sat on a chair alongside Sri Sri Vidyadeesha Teertha Swami if not for the “optics.” Expressing sorry to the swami, Mr. Annamalai recalled that whenever he visited him in Udupi, where he served as the Superintendent of Police, he always sat on the floor as it was the essence of “Bharatiya.”
