Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has backed up his remarks on Sanatana Dharma by saying that President Draupadi Murmu not being invited to the inauguration of the new Parliament building was a recent example of caste discrimination. Udhayanidhi, who is also the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) youth wing secretary and the son of Chief Minister MK Stalin, has been caught in a political controversy over his statement that Sanatana Dharma should be eradicated.
When asked about his response to former MP and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy writing to Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi seeking sanction to prosecute Udhayanidhi, he said that he was ready to face any legal action initiated against him. “From day one, I have been saying, if you want to take legal action against me, I am ready to face it. Whatever I say here, I will say it in court also.”
NDTV journalist Sam Daniel, pointing out that Udhayanidhi had clarified that his comments were not against Hindu religion but against the Sanatana practices and caste discrimination, and asked him to cite examples of the same. “Recent example, the honorable President Droupadi Murmu madam was not invited for the opening of the Parliament. That is the best current example,” he said. Udhayanidhi referred to the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28, when Droupadi Murmu was not invited to the function.
On September 2, Udhayanidhi Stalin spoke at the Sanatanam (Sanatana Dharma) Abolition Conclave organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Forum, when he said that Sanatana Dharma must be eradicated. "I congratulate the organisers for calling the conference as 'eradication of Santana 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 said.
Following this, an FIR has been filed against Udhayanidhi and also against Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge who had supported Udhayanidhi’s views. The Civil Lines police station in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur district has booked both the Ministers under sections 153A (promoting enmity) and 295A (insult to religion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The First Information Report was registered on September 4, based on a complaint filed by a person identified as Ramsingh Lodhi.