The controversy triggered by DMK minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks on Sanatan Dharma continues to rage with an Ayodhya seer issuing a death threat against the leader.
Seer Paramhans Acharya on Monday announced a reward of Rs 10 crore for beheading DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin over his alleged remarks against 'Sanatan Dharma'. "I will pay Rs 10 crore cash reward to anyone who beheads Stalin and brings his head to me. If no one dares to kill Stalin, I will myself find him and kill him," Paramhans Acharya, the chief priest of the Tapaswi Chawni temple of Ayodhya, said.
He added that Sanatan Dharma neither has a beginning nor an end. "It has never been destroyed and can never be destroyed," he said, warning that anyone trying to destroy Sanatan Dharma will be destroyed.
Udayanidhi, son of Chief Minister M K Stalin, said on Saturday that 'Sanatan Dharma' was against equality and social justice and should be eradicated. He also likened 'Sanatan Dharma' to coronavirus, malaria, and dengue fever and said such things should not be opposed but destroyed.
Udhayanidhi Stalin, however, brushed off the threat to his life, declaring he was the grandson of the man who put his life on the line for Tamil Nadu and was "not worried about these threats".
Udhayanidhi, speaking at an event said, that Paramahansa Acharya in Uttar Pradesh has announced that "he would give me ₹ 10 crore to shave my head for talking about Sanatana (Dharma)".
"A 10-rupee comb is enough to comb my head," he said, referring to the threat. "This is not new to us. We are not the ones who are afraid of all these threats. I am the grandson of the artist who put his head on the rail track for Tamil," said Udhyanidhi referring to his grandfather M Karunanidhi, one of the state's iconic leaders.
Security was tightened outside Udhayanidhi's residence in Chennai.
According to local media reports, while only one guard is usually on duty outside his Chennai Greenway residence, over 10 policemen are deployed outside his residence now. This comes amid reports that Hindu organisations may attempt to lay siege to the minister's residence.