Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi has asked the people to maintain calm whatever be the judgement on the Ayodhya title suits case on September 24 and rededicate themselves to enrich the nation in all respects.
He pointed out that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm in the aftermath of the verdict.
"I too want to make an appeal to you. Whatever the verdict maybe, we Indians should shun violence and rededicate ourselves on that day to enrich the nation in every aspect," he said, addressing a DMK meeting here on Monday night.
On the Kashmir issue, he said an all-party delegation was now in that state. "Though religion was not the reason behind the violence, religious sentiments were being whipped up to worsen the situation," he said.
The DMK's views on the issue would also be expressed at the meeting. The delegation was there at a time when a function was being organised to honour senior party workers with awards and remember the Dravidian movement's leaders like Periyar E V Ramasamy and C.N. Annadurai, Mr Karunanidhi said.
He said he had ordered setting up of a cancer ward at Kanyakumari Medical College at Aasaripallam at a cost of Rs 12.82 crore following a request from tourism minister N. Suresh Rajan, as there was an increase in recent years in the number of cancer patients visiting the hospital.
The chief minister thanked party workers for having elevated him to this level and said their greatest gift to him would be to disseminate ‘Dravidian sentiments’ among Tamils.
He listed the achievements of his government since 2006 and assured his government would continue to ensure the welfare of people by implementing more welfare schemes like Kalaignar Housing Scheme.