New Delhi: DMK youth wing leader and Tamil Nadu sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who has stuck by remarks he made recently about the need to eradicate sanatan dharma after being widely criticised by the Bharatiya Janata Party, said on Sunday (September 10) that there is a need to challenge superstitions and continue the fight for social justice.
“I still stand by my comments on Sanatana Dharma. BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, have twisted my speech and also spread rumours and hatred only to derive political mileage. We have a need to challenge superstitions, blind beliefs and remain committed to social justice. Like the change we saw in Tamil Nadu 2021, we have to see a change of power in Delhi in 2024,” Udhayanidhi said, according to The New Indian Express.
The DMK leader was speaking at the wedding of Neyveli MLA Saba Rajendran’s son.
Also read: Interview: The BJP May Defend ‘Sanatan Dharma’, But Can’t Define What it Means
Chief minister M.K. Stalin also spoke at the occasion, though via video conferencing. He told party workers that hard work is ahead as the 2024 general elections come closer.
“For the well-being of the nation, all 39 Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu and the lone constituency in Puducherry should be won by the DMK and its allies. Only a huge victory in all 40 seats will help the DMK play a significant role in the new dispensation at the Centre following the parliamentary polls. Party workers should unite and strive for a resounding victory, echoing the slogan ‘Naarpathum Namathe, Nadum Namathe’ (All 40 seats are ours, and the country too),” he stated.
On September 2, speaking at a conference titled ‘Sanatana Ozhippu Maanaadu’ [‘Sanatana Abolition Conclave’] organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association to critique the concept of sanatana dharma, Udhayanidhi said, “I congratulate the organisers for calling the conference as ‘eradication of sanatana dharma’ instead of ‘opposing sanatana dharma’…”
“There are certain things which we have to eradicate and we cannot merely oppose. Mosquitoes, dengue, corona and malaria are things which we cannot oppose, we have to eradicate them. Sanatanam is also like this. Eradication and not opposing sanatanam has to be our first task,” he continued.
The statement triggered a backlash from the BJP rank and file, with its IT cell head Amit Malviya interpreting Udhayanidhi’s remarks as a “call for [the] genocide” of sanatanis, who he claimed comprise “80% [of the] population of Bharat”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded by saying that ministers need to “deliver a proper response” to the Tamil Nadu minister.
The chief minister has stood by his son, saying, “Udhayanidhi Stalin expressed certain comments about inhuman principles preached by Sanatan. He expressed his views on Sanatan principles that discriminate against Scheduled Castes, tribals, and women, with no intention to offend any religion or religious beliefs.” He also accused Modi of spreading lies about what Udhayanidhi had said.