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

Tamil Nadu Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Chief Minister MK Stalin triggered a political slugfest over the weekend. At the epicentre was his speech at the Sanatana Ozhippu Maanadu (‘Sanatana Abolition Conference’) on Saturday, where Udhay, as he is popularly known, was quoted as saying: “Sanatana is like malaria and dengue and so it must be eradicated and not (just) opposed.”

Sanatana Dharma is against the idea of social justice, which formed the base of the Dravidian Movement, and must therefore be eradicated, said Udhay. The idea of Sanatana is inherently regressive, as it divides people based on gender and caste, he argued, adding that this fundamentally opposed the concepts of equality and social justice.

Genocidal call, says BJP

The backlash on social media was immense. The BJP and its right-wing associates accused the DMK leader of mooting a genocide of Hindus. The DMK and its followers said the call was against Sanatana Dharma, which promotes discrimination, and not against Hinduism per se, or against Hindus.

“(Congress MP) Rahul Gandhi speaks of mohabbat ki dukaan (shop of love) but Congress ally DMK's scion talks about eradicating Sanatana Dharma. Congress's silence is support for this genocidal call. INDIA Alliance, true to its name, if given an opportunity, will annihilate the millennia-old civilisation that is Bharat," said BJP leader Amit Malviya posted on Twitter (now X).

Hitting out at Udhayanidhi over his remarks, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said his comments reflects the Opposition alliance INDIA’s ‘hate’ for Hinduism and is “an attack on our heritage.”

The DMK, which is part of the INDIA, had participated in the bloc’s meet in Mumbai that concluded on Friday. The parties had discussed taking a joint approach against the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Udhay hit back at Malviya, saying he was against the concept and not its followers. “I never called for the genocide of people who are following Sanatans Dharma. Sanatana Dharma is a principle that divides people in the name of caste and religion. Uprooting Sanatana Dharma is upholding humanity and human equality. I stand firmly by every word I have spoken. I spoke on behalf of the oppressed and marginalized, who suffer due to the Sanatana Dharma,” he tweeted.

“I am ready to present the extensive writings of Periyar and Ambedkar, who conducted in-depth research on Sanatan Dharma and its negative impact on society in any forum.

“Let me reiterate the crucial aspect of my speech: I believe, like the spread of diseases like COVID-19, Dengue, and Malaria by mosquitoes, that Sanatan Dharma is responsible for many social evils. I am prepared to confront any challenges that come my way, whether in a court of law or the people's court. Stop spreading fake news,” he said.

The Christian 'connection'

Malaviya was joined by his party colleague K Annamalai, who accused Udhay and Stalin of parroting the ideas of Christian missionaries.

“The only resolve that the Gopalapuram Family has is to accumulate wealth beyond the State GDP. Thiru Udhayanidhi Stalin, you, your father, or his or your idealogue have a bought-out idea from Christian missionaries and the idea of those missionaries was to cultivate dimwits like you to parrot their malicious ideology,” tweeted Annamalai, who heads the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla termed it a ‘genocidal call’. “This is nothing less than a genocidal call and it has been supported by Karti Chidambaram of the Congress party. This is the long pattern of Sanatana Virodh (opposition ot Sanatana),” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Karti Chidamabaram, Congress MP from Tamil Nadu tweeted in support of Udhay. “In the common parlance of TN, Sanatana Dharma means caste hierarchical society. Why is that everyone who is batting for “SD” comes from the privileged segment who are beneficiaries of the “Hierarchy” There was no call for “Genocide” against anyone, this is a mischievous spin,” he said.

While the Congress central leadership is yet to react to the controversy, its Maharashtra chief Nana Patole distanced the party from it, saying the party respects all religions and does not want to make any comments that could hurt anyone's sentiments.

Earlier controversy

This is not the first political controversy around Udhayanidhi. Last December, participating in a Christmas celebration event at Chennai Harbour, his Assembly constituency, the DMK leader had revealed that his wife was a Christian while he himself was an atheist. His mother Durga Stalin is a devout Hindu.

“Everybody is asking — what is this Dravida Model regime? I’m telling you now. An HR&CE Minister (PK Sekar Babu) is saying ‘Hallelujah’. This is what is called the ‘Dravida Model regime’. He had organised an even bigger event for Ramzan. On the outside, he may be roaming around with a mala. But this is a social justice regime. This is what (Dravidian leaders) Periyar, Anna, Kalaignar, Anbazhagan have taught us,” he had said then.