‘Unfair for PM Modi to…’: Stalin defends son Udhayanidhi's ‘eradicate Sanatan’ remarks

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Thursday issued a sharp rebuttal defending the remarks of his cabinet colleague and son, Udhayanidhi Stalin, on ‘Sanatan Dharma’, saying they were aimed at the principles that discriminate against Scheduled Castes, tribals, and women. In a detailed statement, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader said many Indian leaders like Thanthai Periyar, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, and Babasaheb Ambedkar have spoken out against regressive Sanatan ideologies which “justify discrimination based on one's birth”.

“Even as we launch Chandrayaan to the Moon, some people continue to propagate caste discrimination, emphasizing social stratification based on Varnashrama principles and citing sastras and other ancient texts to support their sectarian claims,” Stalin said.

“Udhayanidhi spoke out only against such oppressive ideologies and called to eradicate the practices based on those ideologies,” he added.

What exactly Udhayanidhi said about Sanatan Dharma

A major political controversy erupted earlier this month after a video of DMK leader and Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin calling for the eradication of Sanatana Dharma (a set of duties and way of living as proscribed in the Hindu religion) to establish social justice and equality surfaced on social media.

Addressing a meeting of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association in Chennai last Saturday, the minister said in Tamil, “Few things cannot be opposed, they should only be abolished. We can’t oppose dengue, mosquitoes, or corona [Covid-19], we have to eradicate them. In the same way, we have to eradicate Sanatana [Dharma]. Rather than merely opposing Sanatana, it should be eradicated.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a scathing attack on Udhayanidhi and alleged that the DMK leader was calling for genocide, which Stalin dismissed as a “false narrative”.

“The social media mob nurtured by the BJP has widely circulated this falsehood in northern states. However, Hon'ble Minister Udhayanidhi never used the word 'genocide in either Tamil or English. Still, lies were spread claiming so. If the troll army of BJP spreads these lies, the responsible Union Ministers and State Chief Ministers who belong to BJP should have cared to check what Mr. Udhayanidhi has actually spoken before commenting on him,” Stalin said.

Stalin reacts to PM Modi's remarks, ₹10 crore bounty

The chief minister hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government for not taking action against Ayodhya seer Paramhans Acharya who announced ₹10 crore reward for beheading Udhayanidhi.

Reacting to the reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his colleagues to fight falsehoods and attacks on issues of faith, Stalin said, “In these circumstances, it is disheartening to hear from the national media that the Hon'ble Prime Minister mentioned that Udhayanidhi's remarks need a proper response during a meeting of his council of ministers.”

“The Hon'ble Prime Minister has access to all the resources to verify any claim or report. So, is the Hon'ble Prime Minister speaking unaware of the lies spread about Udhayanidhi, or does he do so knowingly?”

The chief minister said that the opposition bloc INDIA seems to have rattled Prime Minister Modi who is “proposing 'One Nation - One Election' out of fear.”

“It is evident that the BJP is not genuinely concerned about the discriminatory practices in Sanatan but rather desperate to create divisions within the opposition alliance. It doesn't take a political genius to recognise this as a political gimmick.”

Under intense attack from the BJP over his alleged anti-Sanatan Dharma remarks, Udhayanidhi Stalin on Thursday mounted an offensive on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as he accused the saffron party leaders of "twisting" his statements made at a writers' conference in Chennai last week over the issue.

"For the last 9 years, all your (BJP) promises are empty promises. What have you exactly done for our welfare is a question currently being raised in unison by the entire country against an unarmed, fascist BJP government. It is in this background that the BJP leaders have twisted my speech at the TNPWAA conference as 'inciting genocide'. They consider it a weapon to protect themselves," he said in a statement.