Udhayanidhi Stalin, the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, is drawing widespread criticism for his controversial statements regarding Sanatana Dharma. Udhyanidhi Stalin stirred up a controversy when he equated Sanatana Dharma with with diseases like malaria and dengue and advocated for its elimination. Stalin, whose party is part of the INDIA bloc, gave opportunity to the BJP on a platter to hit out at the opposition agenda.
The INDIA alliance parties, reacting to the comments made by the Tamil Nadu minister, looked confused and scrambling for appropriate response. While many seemed to resort to mild rebuke for the comment, some looked defending the indefensible.
This is how different member parties of the INDIA bloc responded to Udhayanidhi's remarks:
1) Congress:
The Indian National Congress, largest party in the INDIA bloc, said its view is of 'Sarv Dharm Samabhava'.
"Our view is clear; 'Sarva Dharma Samabhava' is the Congress' ideology. Every political party has the freedom to tell their views....We are respecting everybody's beliefs," said KC Venugopal, the General Secretary of the grand old party.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi retorted saying that the BJP has no right to distribute certificates of Dharma.
"Congress believes in the Constitution...We are equal in the eyes of God. My question is who gave the BJP the right to distribute the certificates of 'dharma'. BJP never says anything when the leaders of the parties associated with BJP disrespect lord Shree Ram..." Gogoi said.
2) TMC:
Mamata Banerjee, the CM of West Bengal and TMC Supremo, appealed that "we should not comment anything which may hurt the major or small section of people".
"Every religion has separate sentiments. India is about 'Unity in Diversity' which is our origin. We should not be involved in any matter which might hurt a section of people," CM Banerjee told PTI.
When asked if she condemns Udhayanidhi's remarks, "Instead of saying condemn, my humble request to everybody that we should not comment anything which may hurt the major or small section of people."
3) AAP:
Aam Aadmi Party appeared to be making an appeal that commenting in such way on anybody's religion should be avoided.
"...There are different religions, castes and languages in India. It's our beauty that despite this we live together...On Udhayanidhi 's statement, I just want to say that in India we should respect every religion and no one should make a comment on another's religion," said AAP MP Sanjay Singh.
4) Shiv Sena (UBT):
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said "anyone making derogatory comments" against the Sanatan Dharma "is ignorant of what it stands for".\
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Chaturvedi wrote, "Sanatan Dharm stands for eternal truth- the way to live life- the conscience & being. Sanatanis have long withstood attacks by invaders to end their identity yet they have not just survived but thrived. The country’s bedrock, which is linked to sanatan dharm, has been of inclusiveness of all faiths and identities. Anyone making derogatory comments against it is ignorant of what it stands for."
5) RJD:
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Jha on Saturday responded to Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's remark on Sanatana Dharma and said that we should delve into the meanings of symbolic expressions.
"Main samajhta hoon ki kabhi-kabhi hum logo ko prateek muhavaro ke andar jaakar ke sochna hoga... (I understand that sometimes we need to delve into symbolic expressions)", said Jha.
6) CPI:
Defending Stalin's remarks, CPI's D Raja said that Sanatan Dharma cannot be equated with Hinduism.
"Udhayanidhi Stalin during an event said that 'Sanatana Dharma' should be eradicated on which BJP is reacting...Why they are so scared of such speech, I do not know. Sanatana cannot be equated with Hinduism. What is Sanatana? Let Amit Shah, the BJP, and RSS explain to the people what they mean by Sanatana? Sanatana is a philosophical view. Amit Shah and the BJP should understand this," D Raja said.
'To condemn or not to condemn'
The majority of INDIA parties found it challenging to defend Udhayanidhi Stalin's statements, yet they refrained from outright condemnation, possibly out of concern for maintaining an alliance. However, they are also aware that not distancing themselves from these remarks could have repercussions and potentially alienate the majority community, especially in Northern India.
Udhayanidhi's statement, regardless of its intent, could have been more carefully phrased. The direct comparison of an entire religion to a disease carries strong negative connotations and could easily be exploited by the BJP to depict the INDIA bloc as 'anti-Hindu,' a term frequently employed by the saffron party to mobilise its core voter base.
