Following the row due to the alleged anti-Sanatana Dharma remarks made by DMK leader and Tamil Nadu minister Udhayindhi Stalin comparing it to ‘Dengue and COVID-19’ which, is still making waves, former union minister A Raja now compared it with ‘HIV or Leprosy’.
“Udayanidhi Stalin spoke about Sanatan in a soft tone and compared it to Malaria and Dengue. But there is no social stigma to those, no abomination from the society. So, it should be seen as HIV or Leprosy. It should be seen like a social evil disease,’’ he remarked at a public event.
He further challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah for an open debate on the subject.
‘’You come with 10 lakh or 1 crore supporters consisting of Shankaracharya, priests, and with all your weapons to have a discussion on Sanatana Dharma with me in Delhi. I will face you only by having Periyar and Ambedkar books as my weapons. Fix the date and I am ready to come,” he said.
TN CM MK Stalin responds to PM Modi
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said on Thursday that it was ‘unfair’ for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to comment on the statement of Udhayanidhi Stalin without properly ascertaining facts.
In a statement, the Chief Minister said that Udhayanidhi Stalin had made some remarks about the “inhuman practices in Sanatan Dharma” which was earlier touched upon by great social reformers of the Indian subcontinent like Thanthai Periyar, Mahatma Gandhi, Sree Narayana Guru, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Vallalar and Vaikuntar.
He said that these social reformers had spoken against regressive Varnasrama – Manuvad – Sanatan ideologies which justify discrimination based on one’s birth and oppression of women.
The Chief Minister in his statement said that even as the country was launching Chandrayaan to moon, some people were practicing caste discrimination and using the term ‘Sanatan’ to perpetuate the oppression of women who make up more than half of humankind.
He said that Udhayanidhi Stalin had spoken about only such oppressive ideologies and called to eradicate the practices based on these ideologies.
The Chief Minister in the statement said that the pro-BJP forces were unable to tolerate the stance taken by Udhayanidhi Stalin and have spread a false narrative that he called for the genocide of people with Sanatan thoughts.
He said that the Prime Minister has all the resources to verify Udhayanidhi’s statement and still it was reported in the national media that he had in the meeting of council of ministers mentioned that a proper response was required to Udhayanidhi.
Stalin charged that the Prime Minister was trying to divert the attention from his government’s failures by invoking Sanatan Dharma.
The Chief Minister also said that the Prime Minister seems to have been rattled by the new opposition INDIA bloc.
He also charged that the BJP seems to be genuinely concerned about the practices in Sanatan but rather were desperate to create divisions within the opposition.
CM Stalin also said that DMK was a political party which believed in the backward, most backward, Scheduled Caste and tribes, minorities and women.
He also said that Tamil Nadu was the first state that provided equal rights to women and added that DMK had given to women what was denied by Sanatan Dharma.
(With excerpts from IANS)
