Sanatan Dharma Row: High Security at Udhayanidhi's Residence; Oppn Rage Continues Over His Remark

Two days after his Sanatan Dharma comment, police has increased security to Tamil Nadu state minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s residence. At present, ten police personnel have been deployed at his official residence and ten at his residence in ECR.

Security was beefed up after Udhayanidhi Stalin received death threats over his remarks to eradicate the regressive principals in Sanatan Dharma caused several groups to start protests against him.

Stalin junior’s comments snowballed into a massive controversy. The row further deepened after Congress leader Karti Chidambaram, on Sunday, seemed to “support” Udhayanidhi.

Udhayanidhi had said, “There are some things which we have to eradicate and we can’t merely oppose. Mosquitoes, dengue fever, malaria, corona, all these are things which we cannot oppose, we have to eradicate them. Sanatanam is also like this. Eradicating, not opposing, Sanatanam should be our first task.”

Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja also supported Udhayanidhi and said that ‘Sanatan Dharma’ “perpetuates casteism and patriarchy”. “I don’t think Udhay said anything wrong. We must fight against ‘Sanatan Dharma’.”

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s son remained undeterred from the criticism and posted on X 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 honourable CM.”

Speaking exclusively to News18, Udhayanidhi said, “It’s their (BJP’s) habit of spreading fake news. I will always stick to whatever I said, and I will say it again and again. I never spoke about genocide. I only spoke about ‘Sanatan’, what practices they follow, and I definitely stand against it. I will never step back from whatever I said.”

BJP leaders in Delhi sought an apology from Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin for his comments against ‘Sanatan Dharma’ and submitted a protest letter to the state’s resident commissioner on Monday.

A delegation from the BJP’s Delhi unit, including its president Virendra Sachdeva, MPs Harsh Vardhan and Parvesh Verma, visited the Tamil Nadu House to submit the protest letter addressed to Chief Minister MK Stalin.

Meanwhile, following his son’s ‘Sanatan Dharma’ remark, CM MK Stalin in his podcast ‘Speaking for India’ — on Monday — took a swing at the Bharatiya Janata Party and said that they have taken “religion as their weapon” to hide all their flaws.

“They are inciting the fire of religious sentiments of people and basking in the warmth of its fiery flames,” said Stalin. He began by accusing BJP of trying to hamper with India’s structure and destroy it’s sense of unity.

BJP Leaders’ Reactions on Udhayanidhi’s Remarks:

– Hitting out at Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya said that Udhayanidhi was “calling for the genocide of 80 per cent of the population”

“Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, and a minister in the DMK government, 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 the genocide of 80 per cent population of Bharat, who follow Sanatana dharma. 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?” Amit Malviya wrote on X.

– BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla too said that it is a “genocidal call, supported by Karti Chidambaram of the Congress party.”

– Union Minister Jitendra Singh slammed Udhayanidhi for his comments and said that “none of us, particularly those in public life have a right to say anything which hurts the belief of any section of society.”

“Its shows the lack of understanding of that person on particular subject,” he added.

– Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai lashed out at the DMK leader and said that the Stalin family’s idealogue has “bought-out idea from Christian missionaries”.

“I challenge Udhayanidhi Stalin to stop his mother from going to a temple,” Annamalai said as he took on TN CM MK Stalin’s son for his controversial remarks.

Calling the statement “childish and mischievous”, Annamalai said Stalin Jr enjoys a position only due to his father and grandfather. “Sanatan Dharma is timeless and eternal. Mughals, East India Company and even the Christian missionaries couldn’t touch it. Who is he to eradicate it?” the BJP state chief asked.

– Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar slammed Stalin family’s “dynastic politics” and said that “as a cover for their corruption and parasitic behavior, they create narratives like “Protecting Dravidian Land”.

– Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “The reality of some people in Tamil Nadu has now come out. Just a few days ago, we organised Kashi Tamil Sangamam and Lord Vishwanath is commemorated in every village in Tamil Nadu. ‘Sanatana’ is eternal, nothing is going to happen with these political remarks.”

– Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday lashed out at opposition INDIA coalition parties over Udhayanidhi’s remarks accusing them of insulting ‘Sanatan Dharma’ for vote bank and appeasement politics.

“These people have talked about ‘Sanatan Dharma’ for vote bank appeasement. They have insulted (‘Sanatan Dharma’),” BJP leader Shah said at a public rally at Beneshwar Dham in Dungarpur district.

INDIA Parties React to Stalin Junior’s Comments

– Congress

While Kartik P Chidambaram seemed to support Udhayanidhi saying that in Tamil Nadu’s common parlance “Sanatana Dharma means Caste Hierarchical Society”. Karti said, “Why is that everyone who is batting for Sanatan Dharma comes from the privileged segment who are beneficiaries of the hierarchy. There was no call for ‘genocide’ against anyone, this is a mischievous spin.”

On the other hand, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said, “Congress’ stand is clear, we do not want to comment on any religion or to hurt anyone’s sentiments.”

Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla criticised Karti for “defending” Stalin’s son. “I know you personally and you are a reasonable guy but what Udhayanidhi said is simply unacceptable,” he added.

– Shiv Sena (UBT)

The Thackeray faction leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said that anyone making derogatory comments against it is ignorant of what it stands for.

– Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

Party leader Sanjay Singh said, ” We don’t need to learn what Hindu religion is from Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party.”

– Community party of India (Marxist)

CPI(M) leader D Raja — like Karti Chidambaram — showed his support for Udhayanidhi saying, “there was nothing wrong in his statement.”

– Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)

RJD leader Mritunjay Tiwari said, “The BJP does politics in the name of Sanatan and the person who gave such a a statement should apologise to all Sanatanis.”

Meanwhile, a petition was filed before a court in Bihar on Monday against TN Chief Minister MK Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin over the latter’s controversial ‘Sanatana Dharma’ remarks. Muzaffarpur-based advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha filed the petition before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Pankaj Kumar Lal alleging that the remarks have hurt Hindu sentiments.

(With agency inputs)