Don’t nudge us to seek independent Tamil Nadu: DMK’s A. Raja seeks autonomy with CM Stalin on stage https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/dont-nudge-us-to-seek-independent-tamil-nadu-dmks-a-raja-seeks-autonomy-with-cm-stalin-on-stage/undefinedJuly 04, 2022
Though the icon of the Dravidian movement, Thanthai Periyar stood for an independent Tamil Nadu, the DMK moved away from it, The party, though accepted Periyar, backed integrity and democracy and said, 'long live India' and the party continues to stick to that line.
"I am telling Amit Shah and the Prime Minister with utmost humility, I implore you in the presence of (our) leaders on the dais, our Chief Minister is journeying on the path of Anna (C.N. Annadurai, former Chief Minister and DMK founder), do not push us on the path of Periyar. Do not make us seek a separate country, give state autonomy and we will not rest till then," he said.
Be it the BJP or Right Wing activists, they have time and again claimed that harping on 'Ondriya Arasu' usage had traces of divisive tendencies. Such a mindset looked at the country as an artificial structure, put together by the British. India is however, culturally and spiritually a single entity though it might have had various rulers through the ages.