'Eradicating Sanatana Dharma' Row: Bengaluru Court Summons Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin On 4 March

A Bengaluru court has asked Tamil Nadu Sports Minister and Chief Minister M K Stalin's son, Udhayanidhi Stalin to appear on 4 March after a local resident filed a complaint about his remarks comparing Sanatan Dharma to diseases like dengue and malaria.

Udhayanidhi had made these comments at an event in September 2023, suggesting that Sanatan Dharma should be removed from the country.

However, after much criticism, Udhayanidhi had clarified that his words were misunderstood.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while campaigning for the elections in Madhya Pradesh, brought up my speech and spoke about me. He said I had called for genocide (of followers of Sanatan Dharma). He accused me of saying things that I did not," he said.

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"I was attending a conference (in Chennai) and spoke only for three minutes. All that I said was that everyone should be treated equally and not be discriminated against, and, that any attempts at discrimination must be eradicated. But they (BJP) twisted my comment, magnified it and made the whole country talk about me," he added.

The controversial remarks led to several legal cases, with the Madras High Court rebuking him for promoting divisive ideas.

During the hearing, the HC judge had asked, “Your understanding of Sanatana Dharma appears to be that it refers to Varnas or the inherent divisions on the basis of caste. What is the literature that was there? What is the research that was done to arrive at such an assumption?”

Apart from junior Stalin, the Bengaluru court has also issued summons to the person who organised the event where Udhayanidhi commented on Sanatan Dharma.

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