Junior Stalin attacks Narendra Modi amid Sanatan row: 'Demonetizes money, changes names'

A day after an FIR was registered against Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin over the remarks made on the ‘Sanatan Dharma’, he released a statement stating that he will face all cases legally and attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government accusing it of using Sanatan ploy to divert attention from Manipur violence and corruption.

Releasing a four-page letter on X, formerly known as Twitter, Udhayanidhi said, “Let us resolve to work for the victory of the ideologies of Periyar, Anna, Kalaignar and Perasiriyar. Let Social Justice flourish forever.”

Udhayanidhi, along with Congress' Priyank Kharge, was booked under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different religious groups), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after complaints from advocates in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur.

He wrote, “We respect all religions that teach, ‘all lives are born equal’. But without an iota of understanding about any of these, Modi and Co are solely dependent on such slanders to face the Parliamentary elections. On the one hand, I can only feel sorry for them. For the last 9 years, Modi has been doing nothing. Occasionally he demonetizes money, builds wall to hide huts, builds new Parliamentary building, erects a Sengol there, plays around by changing the name of the country, standing at border and making the white flag work.”

The FIR against Udhayanidhi was registered on the complaint of lawyers Harsh Gupta and Ram Singh Lodhi who highlighted media reports on Stalin's statement alleging that the politician's comments had hurt their feelings.

Udhayanidhi clarified in the statement that on September 2, he had participated in a conference calling for the 'Annihilation of Santana", which had been organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association of CPI(M) and he delivered a speech at the event.

He further said that the “unarmed, fascist BJP government” was being questioned by the entire country, “For the last 9 years, all your (BJP) promises are empty promises. What have you exactly done for our welfare?”

Last week, Stalin Jr criticised the Sanatan Dharma and compared it with diseases like dengue and malaria, allegedly calling for its eradication.

In his statement, Udhayanidhi accused the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders of having twisted his speech and labelling it as 'inciting genocide'. “They consider it a weapon to protect themselves.”

Read Here | ‘Will repeat the same thing again & again’: Udhayanidhi on his ‘Sanatana’ remark

The TN minister added that Union ministers like Amit Shah and Chief Minister BJP-ruled states were demanding action against him based on fake news.

He said, “Some people who think that it would suffice for their mouths to do all the public work have been meeting the media and distorting my statements. They are making a living by renting out their voices. I don't wish to spoil their livelihood.”

“In all fairness, I should be the one filing criminal cases and other court cases against them for spreading slander while holding respectable positions. But I am aware that this is their mode of survival. They don't know how else to survive, so I decided not to do that. I am one of the political heirs of Perarignar Anna, the founder of the DMK. Everyone knows that we are not enemies of any religion,” Udhayanidhi said.

Quoting DMK founder CN Annadurai on religion, Stalin junior wrote, “If a religion leads people towards equality and teaches them fraternity, then I too am a spiritualist. If a religion divides people in the name of castes, if it teaches them untouchability and slavery, I would be the first person to oppose the religion.”

Further he questioned the BJP-led central government for not bringing any progressing schemes in the past nine years “like the ‘Pudhumai Penn’ scheme that improved the lives of the girl students, or the Chief Minister's breakfast scheme or the Kalaignar's women's rights scheme”.

He asked, “Have they built the AlMS in Madurai? Did they take forward any knowledge movement like the Kalaignar centenary library?”

Udhayanidhi, accusing the Opposition AIADMK, said that when the DMK was in the Opposition they used to go from house to house to distribute essential commodities claiming that the party, after coming to power too, continues to provide welfare assistance.