Sanatana Dharma row: Court pulls up cops for not acting against Udhayanidhi Stalin

There was a “dereliction of duty” on the part of the police as they did not act against Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin over his “inflammatory speech to eradicate Sanatana Dharma” and his cabinet colleague Sekar Babu who was also present at the event where the remarks were made on September 2, the Madras high court has observed.

 

 

As a consequence, a petitioner now wants permission to counter it by conducting a conference to “eradicate Dravidian ideology”, justice G Jayachandran said in an order passed on October 31. Udhayanidhi, however, on Monday defended his Sanatana Dharma remark, which had sparked nationwide uproar. “I didn’t say anything wrong. We will face the case legally,” he told reporters, when asked about the high court’s observation. “I have only spoken about my ideology.”

 

The minister for youth welfare and chief minister MK Stalin’s son further said that his remark on Sanatana Dharma was not something that was not spoken before by leaders like BR Ambedkar and ‘Periyar’ E V Ramasamy.

 

Earlier, the high court bench of justice Jayachandran made the observations while dismissing a petition seeking permission to conduct a conference to “eradicate Dravidian ideology”. The petitioner, Magesh Karthikeyan, a resident of Chennai, had claimed it is the fundamental right to conduct such a meeting.

 

“This court cannot subscribe to this view,” the judge said. “No person in this country can have a right to propagate divisive ideas and conduct (a) meeting to abolish or eradicate any Ideology. Co-existence of multiple and different ideologies is the identity of this country.” The bench further said that no one can expect the courts to “aid them to propagate ideas to create ill will among the public”.

 

 

 

“If the request of the petitioner is acceded, it will cause further disturbance to the peace and tranquillity of the public, who are already fed up by the way some of the fringe groups in support of persons who have taken Oath of office to preserve the Spirit of Constitution, act in breach of their Oath,” the bench said. “This Court cannot perpetrate by permitting the petitioner to hold (a) conference to eradicate Dravidian Ideology.”

 

The court also said that “a person in power” should realise the danger of speech unflaring fissiparous tendency and behave responsibly and restrain themselves from propagating views which will divide people in the name of ideology, caste and religion. “Instead, they may concentrate on eradicating intoxicating drinks and drugs which are injurious to health, corruption, untouchability and other social evil,” the judge added.

 

Addressing a conference organised by Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association in Chennai on September 2 on the theme “eradication of Sanatana”, Udhayanidhi said that Sanatana was against the idea of social justice and that it had to be eradicated. “A 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,” he said.

 

The statement set off a political storm, top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, accused the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the opposition INDIA bloc of being “anti-Hindu”. They demanded the resignation of Udhayanidhi and Babu, the minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE).