Udhayanidhi Stalin, the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and a Minister in his cabinet, has triggered a political storm with the allegation that “Sanatan Dharma” is against social justice and should hence be “eradicated”. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) youth wing secretary’s comment left him and his party facing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ire, which claimed that the Stalin junior’s comment was “hate speech”, “anti-Hindu” and a call to “genocide of 80 per cent of India’s population”.
The BJP also took the opportunity to target the Opposition alliance INDIA and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over their association with the party.
Meanwhile, Delhi police have also filed an FIR against Udhayanidhi under sections 120B,153A, 295, and 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and IT Act for the “provocative, inciting, and defamatory statement against Sanatan Dharm” on the complaint of Supreme Court Advocate and Social Activist Vineet Jindal against the Tamil Nadu Sports Minister’s statement.
Latest Updates In ‘Sanatan Dharma’ Row
What is the Controversy Around Udhyanidhi Stalin?
The controversy around Udhayanidhi Stalin revolves over his remarks regarding “eradicating Sanatan Dharma like diseases,” which led to a significant public outcry and political reactions.
Addressing a conference in Chennai on Saturday, Udhayanidhi, the minister for Sports and Youth Affairs in the Tamil Nadu government, railed against Sanatan Dharma, saying, “Few things cannot be opposed, they should only be abolished. We can’t oppose Dengue, mosquitoes, Malaria, or Corona, we have to eradicate them. In the same way, we have to eradicate Sanatana (Sanatan Dharma). Rather than merely opposing Sanatana, it should be eradicated.”
BJP Slams Udhayanidhi
Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi has dubbed the Tamil Nadu minister’s remark as “treason” and demanded his arrest. “Udayanidhi Stalin should be arrested and sent to jail for having compared Sanatana Dharma to ailments like dengue and malaria,” the former Bihar Deputy CM told reporters.
“The statement amounts to treason (deshdroh’) since Stalin did not advocate eradication of the ills plaguing the faith, but called for rooting out the faith itself. The DMK has historically been associated with this type of politics,” alleged Sushil Modi.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar called DMK scion a ‘spoiled brat’. “He commented on ‘Sanatana Dharma’, Hinduism without any worry of any response. Because he believes that his money, wealth, and dynastic position put him in a situation where he can insult thousands of Indians and people from Tamil Nadu. Udhayanidhi Stalin is a classic example of a spoiled brat, a person who has not done one day’s honest work in his life, talking about something that is so important and of faith,” he said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on the other hand, accused INDIA bloc parties of “insulting” Sanatan Dharma for vote bank and appeasement politics.
Meanwhile, BJP president JP Nadda appealed to people to reject the opposition grouping, which is spreading “hatred, poison and attacking the country’s culture and tradition”. The BJP alleged it is clear that “a complete eradication” of Hindu dharma is the “primary agenda” of the opposition alliance.
Describing the DMK leader’s remarks as “hate speech”, the saffron party urged the Supreme Court to take appropriate action against him.
BJP’s IT department in-charge Amit Malviya said the DMK leader has called for “genocide” of 80 per cent population who follow Sanatan Dharma. Terming Udhayanidhi Stalin’s comments as hate speech, Malviya said while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke of ‘Mohabbat ki dukan,’ Congress’s ally DMK’s leader has sought eradication of Sanatan Dharma.
The ‘Mohabbat ki dukan’ remark was made by Nadda and BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi as well to target Rahul Gandhi.
Malviya said on X: “Congress’s silence is support for this genocidal callI.N.D.I Alliance, true to its name, if given an opportunity, will annihilate the millennia old civilisation that is Bharat.”
Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai too slammed the DMK minister for his malicious ideology.
Udhayanidhi Accuses BJP of ‘Twisting’ Statement
Seeking to rubbish BJP’s genocidal claim, Udhayanidhi said it was false and that he never called for genocide.
“I never called for the genocide of people who are following Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan Dharma is a principle that divides people in the name of caste and religion. Uprooting Sanatan Dharma is upholding humanity and human equality,” Udhayanidhi Stalin wrote in a message on X.
However, an unfazed Udhayanidhi, said he is the voice of the oppressed people and he is prepared to confront challenges, be it in a court of law or the people’s court.
Stalin’s son also stood by his remarks and clarified that they were just criticism. He said that the Sanatan Dharma was something that is permanent and not subject to change while Dravida ideology propagates change and that everyone is equal in the Dravidian concept.
He, however, added that some people were childish in stating that he had called for a genocide of people believing in Sanatan Dharma.
Udhayanidhi said that some people were saying that Dravidam should be abolished and questioned whether that meant DMK workers be killed. He pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi regularly calls for ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ but it does not mean that all Congress leaders are to be killed.
He accused the BJP was twisting facts and was spreading lies “which was their regular habit”. The young scion of the Karunanidhi family also said that the BJP was afraid of the INDIA alliance and was trying to divert the issue and spread a false narrative.
DMK Defends Its Leader
The DMK, meanwhile, has stepped up to defend its leader’s remark and asserted that religions like Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism had emerged in opposition to Sanatana Dharma.
“What Udhayanidhi said is a very simple thing. He said what the Tamil culture is. The Tamil culture is all men are born equal…He didn’t want any difference by birth or by class…Buddhism had come in India, long back. Jainism had come in India, Sikhism had come in India…They are all against…If I talk about Christianity and Islam, they will say it is foreign. But I am talking about certain religions that had started in India only because of this so-called Sanatana. There were five religions in the North, which had come against Sanatana. It is not Udhyanidhi, it started with Gautam Buddha,” said DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan told ANI.
VHP Warns Of Consequences
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has slammed Udhayanidhi for his remarks against the Sanatana Dharma, saying the consequences of such threats can be serious.
“I am surprised by both the language and the spirit of the statement of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s son and State Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin. The kind of threats he is issuing, he did not even consider his own strength. The consequences of such threats can also be serious,” said VHP Working President Alok Kumar.
“Sanatan Dharma also faced challenges from Muslims, missionaries and the British, yet it won. The rule of the Mughals and the British also disappeared. Remember that the one who talks about destroying Sanatan himself gets destroyed.”
Kumar also asked whether Udhayanidhi’s statement was the statement of his government. “If so, then we will tell the Central Government that Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution give every person the right to practice his religion. It is the duty of the government to protect it.”
Congress’ Take
Seeking to steer the Congress away from Udhayanidhi’s statement , the party’s Maharashtra chief Nana Patole on Sunday said the partner in the DMK-led ruling coalition in Tamil Nadu doesn’t believe in hurting any religious sentiments.
Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Patole invoked Dalit icon BR Ambedkar’s ‘Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava’ (all religions are the same) remark, saying, “Our stand is clear. The Congress neither comments nor believes in hurting anyone’s religious sentiments.”
“We can’t take the onus for someone else’s statement. But our position has been clearly articulated,” the Congress leader added.
(With Inputs from Agencies)