New Delhi: Responding to a social media post threatening him with “legal remedies” over his remark equating ‘Sanatan Dharma’ with “mosquitoes, dengue, fever, malaria and corona”, Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin said he wasn’t intimidated by “usual saffron threats” and will keep fighting for “social justice”.
Speaking at a seminar earlier on Saturday, the minister for Sports and Youth Affairs in the Tamil Nadu government said, “There are some things which we have to eradicate and can’t merely oppose. Mosquitoes, dengue, fever, malaria and corona, all these are things which we cannot oppose, we have to eradicate them. Sanatanam (Sanatan Dharma) is like this.”
Chennai | I thank the organisers of this conference for giving me the opportunity to deliver a special address. You have kept the name of the conference as ‘Sanatana Abolition Conference’ rather than ‘Anti-Sanatana Conference’, I appreciate that. Few things cannot be opposed,… pic.twitter.com/UvESuedy2X
— ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2023
Hitting back at him over his remarks, a handle on social media platform X, going by the name Legal Rights Observatory, posted that it was “exploring various legal remedies to eradicate filthy mosquitoes denigrating Sanatan Dharma”.
To this, the minister and son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin responded saying, “Bring it on. I am ready to face any legal challenge. We will not be cowed down by such usual saffron threats.”
Bring it on. I am ready to face any legal challenge. We will not be cowed down by such usual saffron threats. We, the followers of Periyar, Anna, and Kalaignar, would fight forever to uphold social justice and establish an egalitarian society under the able guidance of our… https://t.co/nSkevWgCdW
— Udhay (@Udhaystalin) September 2, 2023
“We, the followers of Periyar, Anna, and Kalaignar, would fight forever to uphold social justice and establish an egalitarian society under the able guidance of our CM MK Stalin. I will say it today, tomorrow, and forever: Our resolve to stop Sanathana Dharma from the Dravidian land would not reduce even a bit,” he posted on his official handle on X.
Tearing into the DMK leader over his remarks, BJP state chief K Annamalai posted on X, “Tamil Nadu is a land of spiritualism. The best you can do is to hold a Mic in an event like this and rant out your frustration!”
The only resolve that the Gopalapuram Family has is to accumulate wealth beyond the State GDP.
Thiru @Udhaystalin, you, your father, or his or your idealogue have a bought-out idea from Christian missionaries & the idea of those missionaries was to cultivate dimwits like you to… https://t.co/sWVs3v1viM
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) September 2, 2023
Also launching a scathing attack on the Tamil Nadu minister, BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya said the former was calling for the “genocide” of 80 per cent of the country’s population which practices Sanatan Dharma.
“Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, and a minister in the DMK Govt, has linked Sanatana Dharma to malaria and dengue… He is of the opinion that it must be eradicated and not merely opposed. In short, he is calling for genocide of 80% population of Bharat, who follow Sanatan Dharma,” Malviya posted.
Linking Stalin junior’s remark to the third meeting of the Opposition bloc, of which the ruling DMK was a part, the BJP leader questioned, “Is this what was agreed in the Mumbai meet?”.
Significantly, the Congress is an ally of the DMK in the ruling coalition in the state.