CHENNAI: “Uprooting Sanatan Dharma is upholding humanity and human equality,” Tamil Nadu Minister for Youth Welfare Udhayanidhi Stalin said while clarifying that he had not 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 on Saturday night.
Reiterating his statement at the ‘Sanatana Abolition Conference’, Udhayanidhi Stalin wrote, “I stand firmly by every word I have spoken. I spoke on behalf of the oppressed and marginalized, who suffer due to the Sanatan Dharma.”
“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,” he added.
Repeating his point made in his speech, he wrote, “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.”
“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,” he added.
The Minister’s speech triggered a political outrage by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the party’s IT cell head Amit Malviya claiming that Udhayanidhi Stalin has called for genocide of 80 per cent of the population of India.
“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,” Amit Malviya posted in a message on X.
He also attacked the Congress-led INDIA alliance on the issue.”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 asked.
Posting a video of Stalin’s speech along with Hindi subtitles, Malviya wrote in another message, “Rahul Gandhi speaks of Mohabbat ki Dukaan (shop of love) but Congress ally DMK’s scion talks about eradicating Sanatana Dharma. Congress’s silence is support for this genocidal call… I.N.D.I Alliance, true to its name, if given an opportunity, will annihilate the millennia-old civilisation that is Bharat.”
State BJP president K Annamalai also accused Udhayanidhi and his father, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin of parroting the “ideas” of Christian missionaries.
“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 and the idea of those missionaries was to cultivate dimwits like you to parrot their malicious ideology,” Annamalai wrote in a message on X.
“Tamil Nadu is a land of spiritualism. The best you can do is to hold a Mic in an event like this & rant out your frustration!” he added.
Earlier on Saturday, Udhayanidhi Stalin said, “Sanatana is like malaria and dengue and so it must be eradicated and not opposed.”
“I thank the organisers of this conference for giving me the opportunity to deliver a special address. You have kept the name of the conference as ‘Sanatana Abolition Conference’ rather than ‘Anti-Sanatana Conference’, I appreciate that,” Udhayanidhi said.
He further said, “Few things cannot be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can’t oppose Dengue, Mosquitoes, Malaria, or Corona, we have to eradicate this that’s how we have to eradicate Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated.” (ANI)