The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came down heavily on DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin for his remarks on the “eradication of Sanatan Dharma”.
In his address in Tamil at a meet of Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association in Chennai on Saturday, Udhayanidhi, the Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs in the Tamil Nadu government and son of Chief Minister M K Stalin, said, “Few things cannot be opposed, they should 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 opposing it.”
Reacting to his remarks, Tamil Nadu BJP president Annamalai wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “The only resolve that the Gopalapuram Family has is to accumulate wealth beyond the State GDP. Thiru, Udhaystalin, you, your father, or his or your idealogue have a bought-out idea from Christian missionaries & the idea of those missionaries was to cultivate dimwits like you to parrot their malicious ideology. (sic)”
BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya alleged that Udhyanidhi called for “genocide of 80 per cent of population”.
“Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamilnadu CM MK Stalin, and a minister in the DMK Govt, has linked Sanatana Dharma to malaria and dengue… He is of the opinion that it must be eradicated and not merely opposed. In short, he is calling for genocide of 80% population of Bharat, who follow Sanatan Dharma,” Malviya said.
“DMK is a prominent member of the Opposition block and a long standing ally of the Congress. Is this what was agreed in the Mumbai meet?,” he added, referring to the third meeting meeting of the INDIA alliance, a grouping of 28 political parties to take on the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha elections, that took place in Mumbai recently.
Following his tweet, Udhyanidhi clarified that “never called for 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. I stand firmly by every word I have spoken. I spoke on behalf of the oppressed & marginalized, who suffer due to the Sanatan Dharma,” he wrote.
“I am ready to present the extensive writings of Periyar and Ambedkar, who conducted in-depth research on Sanatan Dharma and its negative impact on society in any forum.
Let me reiterate the crucial aspect of my speech: I believe, like the spread of diseases like COVID-19, Dengue, and Malaria by mosquitoes, that Sanatan Dharma is responsible for many social evils,” he wrote.
“I am prepared to confront any challenges that come my way, whether in a court of law or the people’s court. Stop spreading fake news,” the DMK leader asserted.
When a user posted that the DMK leader should be punished for his remarks, he reposted it saying, “Bring it on. I am ready to face any legal challenge. We will not be cowed down by such usual saffron threats. We, the followers of Periyar, Anna, and Kalaignar, would fight forever to uphold social justice and establish an egalitarian society under the able guidance of our Hon’ble CM @mkstalin. I will say it today, tomorrow, and forever: Our resolve to stop Sanathana Dharma from the Dravidian land would not reduce even a bit.”
However, Udhyanidhi’s remarks found the support of Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram.
Taking to X, Chidambaram wrote, “In the common parlance of TN “Sanathana Dharma” means Caste Hierarchical Society. Why is that everyone who is batting for “SD” comes from the privileged segment who are beneficiaries of the “Hierarchy”. There was no call for “Genocide” against anyone, this is a mischievous spin. (sic)”
Meanwhile, BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, “…This is nothing less than a genocidal call and it has been supported by Karti Chidambaram of the Congress party… The question is that is this ‘Mohabbat ki dukaan or is this Nafrat ke bhaijaan’?”
As the row escalated, MK Joint Secretary and Spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai said that Udhayanidhi’s statement has been twisted and taken out of context.
“Our leader Udhayanidhi’s statement has been twisted, taken out of context and the biggest fake news peddler has put out a tweet that Udhayanidhi Stalin asked for genocide. If the Prime Minister says ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’, does he call for genocide? How can they say that Udhayanidhi Stalin has called for genocide? That is a fake news, that is hate speech,” he said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
“They have to be answerable to the law for bringing up fake news and driving hatred. When we say we want to do away with ‘Sanatana Dharma’ it means we want to do away with the rigid caste system, which is perpetuated by the Sanatan Dharma,” he added.