NCP-SCP leader and four times MLA, Jitendra Awhad sparked another controversy on Saturday, 2nd August, when he attacked Sanatan Dharma, calling it a harmful and regressive ideology that has “ruined India.”
Speaking to the media, Awhad said, “Sanatan Dharma has ruined India. There never was a religion called Sanatan Dharma. We are followers of Hindu Dharma.” According to him, Sanatan Dharma has historically been used to deny rights to great Indian icons and social reformers.
Jitendra Awhad went on to say that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was not allowed to have a coronation ceremony because of Sanatan Dharma, and that Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj was defamed by his followers because of it. “They threw filth and cow dung at Savitribai Phule. They even tried to kill Jyotirao Phule. This very Sanatan Dharma also tried to kill Shahu Maharaj,” Awhad claimed.
Thane, Maharashtra | NCP-SCP MLA Jitendra Awhad says, "Sanatan Dharma has ruined India. There was never any religion called Sanatan Dharma. We are followers of Hindu Dharma. It was this so‑called Sanatan Dharma that denied our Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj his coronation. This… pic.twitter.com/9vVxwA3XhI
— ANI (@ANI) August 2, 2025
Awhad further added, “Sanatan Dharma didn’t even let Babasaheb Ambedkar drink water or study. It was Babasaheb who finally stood up against it, burned the Manusmriti, and rejected these oppressive traditions. The person who created Manusmriti came from this same Sanatan tradition. We shouldn’t be afraid to say it openly, Sanatan Dharma and its Sanatani ideology are perverted.”
Not his first controversial statement on Sanatan Dharma
This isn’t the first time Awhad has made such provocative statements. In January 2024, he stirred another controversy by claiming that Lord Ram was not only a non-vegetarian but also a figure belonging to the Bahujan community.
Attending an event at Shirdi, Jitendra Awhad said, “Ram belongs to us Bahujans. He used to hunt and eat. When you attempt to convert all to vegetarian, recall we are Ram’s followers and we eat mutton. That is Ram’s ideal. He was not a vegetarian.”
He also wondered if one who had been in the forest for 14 years could be a vegetarian. “Where would a person in the forest eat vegetarian food?” he asked the crowd, “Tell me if I’m wrong.”
In the same address, Awhad addressed India’s freedom struggle. He stated that Mahatma Gandhi was attacked a number of times prior to being assassinated in 1948 due to his caste. “Gandhiji was a tradesman and an OBC. They could not digest the fact that the head of such a huge movement was an OBC. That is why he was targeted so many times”, Awhad had said.
He even claimed that casteism was the real reason behind Gandhi’s killing and accused the RSS of not being able to accept Gandhi’s leadership because of his caste.
Similar comments from Jitendra Awhad in 2023
Awhad’s incendiary remarks are not confined to Lord Ram or Sanatan Dharma alone. In April 2023, he spoke against the motive of Hindu festivals Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti. Delivering a speech at an NCP rally, he stated, “A riot happened in Aurangabad. I mean Ram Navami. and what is that other festival? Hanuman Jayanti. Are these festivals made just for riots?”
It seems that the festivals of Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti are for riots only. The atmosphere in the cities has deteriorated due to riots. I think the coming years will be the years of religious riots: NCP leader Jitendra Awhad in Mumbai today pic.twitter.com/JirBUGvMZ5
— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2023
He also asserted that the situation in cities during these festivals was never tense before, and even went to the extent of suggesting that there was some conspiracy behind such violence. “I don’t normally talk like this in the presence of Saheb (Sharad Pawar), but I strongly feel that the next year is going to be a year of communal riots”, Jitendra Awhad had said.
It must be noted that in March 2023, several cases of violence were reported during Ram Navami processions across the nation, ranging from stone-pelting in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
Walking in Udhayanidhi Stalin’s footsteps
Awhad’s constant criticisms of Sanatan Dharma are reminiscent of what DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had to say in September 2023.
At the “Eradicate Sanatan Conference” in Chennai, Udhayanidhi Stalin likened Sanatan Dharma to maladies such as dengue, malaria, and corona. “Mosquitoes, dengue, flu, malaria, corona those have to be eradicated and not opposed. Same for Sanatan Dharma,” he added.
கொசு, டெங்கு, கொரோனா இவற்றையெல்லாம் நாம் எதிர்க்ககூடாது ஒழித்து கட்ட வேண்டும், அதைப்போல தான் இந்த சனாதனமும் அதை எதிர்க்க கூடாது ஒழிக்க வேண்டும்! – அமைச்சர் உதயநிதி ஸ்டாலின்! #UdhayanidhiStalin #Sanatana pic.twitter.com/0MKe3ORPdq
— DMK Updates (@DMK_Updates) September 2, 2023
The remarks of Udhayanidhi Stalin were made at a function where multiple DMK leaders and left-wing activists, including Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister PK Sekarbabu, were present.
