Wednesday, Union minister Smriti Irani made a veiled dig at Udhayanidhi Stalin on his comment on ‘Sanatana Dharma,’ which is at the centre of a big political battle in the country.
“Those who challenge ‘Sanatan Dharma,’ the voice should reach them that till the ‘bhakts’ are alive, no one can challenge their religion,” the minister was quoted as saying by PTI to devotees at the Shri Krishna Janmashtami Celebration event conducted by Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan in Delhi. The event was held in honour of Krishna’s birthday.
Udhayanidhi Stalin, when speaking at an event that was put on by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association, stated that Sanatana Dharma was in direct opposition to the concept of social justice and that it needed to be abolished.
VIDEO | "Those who challenge 'Sanatan Dharma', the voice should reach them that till the 'bhakts' are alive, no one can challenge their religion," says Union minister @smritiirani during Janmashtami celebrations at ISKCON temple in Dwarka, Delhi. pic.twitter.com/7q0a4u8htw
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 6, 2023
“Only a few things cannot be argued against, and those should be eliminated entirely. We are powerless to stop mosquitoes, dengue fever, malaria, or corona. This must be eliminated, as this is the only way to get rid of santana. Udhayanidhi, the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, was recently cited as suggesting that Sanatana should be exterminated rather than opposed.
The statement made by the DMK leader ignited a big dispute, which resulted in various BJP leaders, Union ministers, and chief ministers criticising his party as well as the I.N.D.I.A grouping that includes the DMK as one of its members.
“…The INDIA alliance has been disrespecting ‘Sanatana Dharma’ for the past two days. The leaders of the DMK and Congress are discussing putting an end to ‘Sanatana Dharma’ just for the purpose of garnering votes. This is not the first time that they have disrespected our ‘Sanatana Dharma,'” the Union home minister Amit Shah had stated at a rally in an election-bound region of Rajasthan.
Irani’s speech comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his cabinet colleagues to “fight falsehoods and attacks on issues of faith.” Irani’s statement comes as a response to Modi’s request. According to a report that was published by DNS, the government ministers have been instructed to “aggressively face falsehoods and attacks against the issues of faith and to put things in the right context and also to rely on the provisions of the Constitution that do not allow denigration of any religion.”
