Following Udhayanidhi Stalin’s hate speech, another DMK Minister has reportedly made controversial remarks against Sanatan Dharma. As per media reports, DMK Minister K Ponmudy has claimed that there is no disagreement in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc with respect to eradicating Sanatan Dharma. The Minister further claimed that all 26 parties in the opposition alliance are united to fight Sanatan Dharma and the opposition bloc was formed solely for this purpose.
Evidently, a purported video clip of the Higher Education Minister in the DMK government is doing rounds on the internet, which is said to be from the same conference where Udhayanidhi Stalin made vitriolic statements against Sanatan Dharma – ‘Eradicate Sanatan Conference’.
In the viral video, the DMK Minister can be heard saying, “I.N.D.I.A. has been formed to fight against the principles of Santan Dharma, we may have differences but the 26 parties in the alliance are united in the fight against Sanatan Dharma.”
Ponmudy added, “We all agree on one point when it comes to abolishing the Sanatan Dharma. We all want the same thing, equality, social justice, protection for minorities, and gender equality. You and I can only speak on this, but only when we win in politics, we can make sure we can make changes.”
Following the controversy, Tamil Nadu BJP Chief K Annamalai lambasted the I.N.D.I.A. bloc and claimed that the Minister’s remark against Sanatan Dharma exposed the true face of the opposition alliance.
Prior to this, several leaders of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc had made disparaging remarks against Sanatan Dharma and threw their weight behind Udhayanidhi Stalin over his vow to eradicate Sanatan Dharma’, a faith which has over 100 crore believers the world over.
Taking a cue from Udhayanidhi Stalin, who compared Sanatan Dharma to diseases like Malaria and Corona and called for its eradication, DMK Minister A Raja claimed that his colleague’s remarks on Sanatan Dharma were soft. A Raja, who was accused in the 2G scam, argued that Sanatan Dharma should have been compared with stigmatising ailments such as HIV or leprosy.
During the current round of smear campaigns and attacks against Sanatan Dharma, several senior functionaries of Tamil Nadu Congress and its party leaders like Karti Chidambaram, son of Former Home Minister P Chidambaram and Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge who is the son of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge too added fuel to the fire.
Conspicuously, leaders from Congress, DMK, VCK, RJD, CPI(M), and Samajwadi Party among others have made controversial and hateful remarks against Sanatan Dharma, giving an impression that they all are on the same page as far as their opinions on Hinduism are concerned.
Generally, following any controversy, the first line of defence for any political party or alliance is to distance itself from hate speech or inflammatory remarks and brush it as an off-the-cuff personal remark of the controversial leader. However, things are getting murkier in the brazen Sanatan Eradication call by the leaders of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
The repeated attacks against Sanatan Dharma seemingly indicate that it could be a deliberate political ploy of the I.N.D.I.A. alliance parties to cultivate a minority vote bank by lashing out at Hinduism. But more worryingly, it points to the rampant dehumanisation and desensitisation of Hindus underway by the I.N.D.I. bloc leaders.