Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks on ‘Sanatan Dharma’ needs to be responded properly. Speaking at a meeting of the Council of Ministers ahead of the G20 summit in Delhi, Modi also directed the ministers against making comments over the ongoing ‘India vs Bharat’ controversy.
"Do not go into history, but stick to the facts as per the Constitution. Also, speak about the contemporary situation of the issue," the prime minister said.
Udhayanidhi Stalin, Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister and son of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, stirred up a row after he allegedly likened the Sanatan Dharma to coronavirus, malaria and dengue and said such things should not be opposed but eradicated.
"Few things cannot be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can't oppose Dengue, Mosquitoes, Malaria, or Corona, we have to eradicate this. That's how we have to eradicate Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated,” he had said while speaking at a meeting of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association in Chennai on Saturday.
Later, clarifying his remarks, Udhayanidhi said he had not called for the genocide of people who are following the Sanatan Dharma, but reiterated that this principle divides people in the name of caste and religion.
"The day before yesterday I spoke at a function about it (Sanatana Dharma). Whatever I said, I'll repeat the same thing again and again...I included all the religions and not just Hindus...I spoke condemning the caste differences that's all," the DMK leader said on Monday.
His remarks sparked off a political outrage with the BJP accusing the opposition INDIA alliance, of which the DMK is a major partner, of being anti-Hindu.
