‘Sanatan Dharma should be abolished’: Udhayanidhi Stalin in Tamil Nadu Assembly | india news
New Delhi: Former Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Tuesday reiterated his remarks calling for the “elimination” of Sanatan Dharma in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.During his address as Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Udhayanidhi said that the opposition “will not allow” any attempt to sideline the Tamil invocation song “Tamil Thai Vaazathu”.“Sanatan Dharma, which divides people, must be ended,” he said.Udhayanidhi was highlighting a specific grievance in relation to the recent swearing-in ceremony of the new government, alleging that the state anthem was pushed to third place in the sequence of events instead of being given traditional priority.“Such an incident, which happened during the swearing-in ceremony of your government, was a mistake and you should not allow it to happen again in this Assembly. We will not allow this,” he said.He further said that not only in the Assembly, but in any government program or event organized in Tamil Nadu, “Tamil Thai Vazhathu” should always be given primary place.The opposition leader said, “I request this government to ensure that this is never compromised. We must be very vigilant to protect our rights and traditions.”“In governance, DMK is the senior batch and we are ready to teach you,” he said in a light-hearted tone, referring to Chief Minister Vijay and Speaker Prabhakar. Vijay was also seen smiling during the comment.Udhayanidhi’s latest comment on Sanatan Dharma comes almost three years after his similar statement, which had sparked a major political storm across India. He had then said that Sanatan Dharma is against the idea of social justice and it needs to be abolished.In the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, Udhayanidhi’s Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam. While the TVK won 108 seats in its first election, the DMK managed to secure only 59 seats.
