Modi and co using Sanatana ploy to divert attention: Udhayanidhi Stalin

In the eye of storm over his controversial remarks on Sanatana Dharma, Tamil Nadu minister Udayanidhi Stalin on Thursday (September 7) accused the BJP of “twisting his remarks” and vowed to face all the cases filed against him legally.

Udayanidhi issued a 4-page statement, saying, “For the last 9 years all your (BJP) promises are empty promises. What have you exactly done for our welfare is a question currently being raised in unison by the entire country against an unarmed fascist BJP government. It is in this background that the BJP leaders have twisted my speech at the TNPWAA conference as inciting genocide. They consider it a weapon to protect themselves.”

Also read: Malaria, dengue, Sanatana? The ruckus around Udhayanidhi’s speech

Targets PM Modi

Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Udayanidhi said, “Afraid of having to face questions about Manipur in India, he is globe-trotting along with his friend Adani. The fact is, the ignorance of the people is the capital of their theatrical politics. Thiru Modi and co are using the Sanatana ploy to divert the attention from the facts including the killing of more than 250 people in the riots incited in Manipur and the Rs 7.5 lakh crore corruption,” he charged.

Udayanidhi said DMK respects all religions that teach all lives are born equal. “But without an iota of understanding about any of these, Thiru Modi and Co are solely dependent on such slanders to face the Parliamentary elections. On the one hand, I can only feel sorry for them. For the last 9 years, Modi has been doing nothing. Occasionally he demonetizes money, builds wall to hide huts, builds new Parliamentary building, erects a Sengol (scepter) there, plays around by changing the name of the country, standing at border and making the white flag work,” he lashed out.

Mode of survival

The Tamil Nadu minister said what is surprising is that the ministers of the Union govemment like Thiru Amit Shah and chief minister of BJP-ruled states were demanding action against him based on “fake news”. He said, “In all fairness, I should be the one-filing criminal cases and other court cases against them for spreading stander while holding respectable positions. But I am aware that this is their mode of survival. They don't know how else to survive, so I decided not to do that.”

Udayanidhi said he was one of the political heirs of Dravidian stalwart, the late CN Annadurai, the founder of the DMK and “everyone knows that we are not enemies of any religion”. “I would like to quote Anna’s comment on religions which remains relevant even today. If a religion leads people towards equality and teaches them fraternity, then I too am a spiritualist. If a religion divides people in the name of castes, if it teaches them untouchability and slavery, I would be the first person to oppose religion,” he said, quoting Annadurai.

Also read: Sanatana Dharma row: PM Modi asks ministers to give befitting reply

Appeal to workers

Udayanidhi also asked the party workers not to resort to activities like burning effigies of seers. “We are the ones to teach decency to others. That’s what our leaders have taught us therefore urge our movement’s comrades to avoid such things altogether. There was a lot of work for the party workers, including preparing for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” he said and asked them to focus on that.

He also questioned as to what all the Modi-led Union government did in the last 9 years. “Has there been any progressive scheme from the Union government in the last nine years like the DMK’s “Pudhumai Penn” or the chief minister’s breakfast scheme or the Kalaignar's women’s rights scheme. Have they built the AIIMS in Madurai? Did they take forward any knowledge movement like the Kalaignar centenary library,” he asked.

(With agency inputs)