Stalin Junior's "Sanatan Dharma" Comment A Googly For INDIA

Trinamool Congress, accused repeatedly of minority appeasement, today weighed in on the "Sanatana Dharma" row, slamming the DMK leader who made the controversial statement. The Opposition bloc INDIA is divided down the middle over Udhayanidhi Stalin's comment, with individual leaders of the Congress, Shiv Sena and the CPI supporting it and Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party and now the Trinamool criticising it. Many key leaders, including Sharad Pawar and Nitish Kumar, are yet to comment on the matter.  

"I respect the people of Tamil Nadu and South India. But my humble request to them is that to respect all as every religion has separate sentiments," said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

"As far as the remarks (of Udhayanidhi Stalin) is concerned, he is a junior. From my side, I am not clear about why and on what grounds he has made the comment. I feel that each and every religion should be equally respected," she added.

"The comment is unfortunate and must be condemned… We observe our own religion and respect other religions. If someone insults Sanatan Dharma, we condemn it very strongly… Whoever he may be, we contradict and condemn this statement," said Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.  

He, however, added that the comment is "not connected to the INDIA alliance.  

"We should respect all religions and should not comment at all about any religion," said AAP's Sanjay Singh, making the party's disapproval clear.  

The Congress has given a nuanced response, given the sensitivity of the issue ahead of a string of assembly elections in heartland states and its alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu.

Senior leader KC Venugopal underscored the need to respect all religions, saying every political party "has the freedom to (express) their views" and that the Congress "respects everybody's beliefs".

Congress's Priyank Kharge and Karti Chidambaram have backed the DMK leader, saying the BJP comment of a "genocidal call" is a "mischievous spin". The BJP has slammed the silence of Rahul Gandhi, claiming it marks him as anti-Hindu.   

Congress ally in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena UBT, has also indicated support to the DMK leader, who is a Tamil Nadu minister and son of Chief Minister MK Stalin.  

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, senior Shiv Sena UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi pointed to the "inclusiveness" of the "Sanatan Dharma".  

"Sanatan Dharm stands for eternal truth - way to live life, conscience & being. Sanatanis have long withstood attacks by invaders to end their identity yet have not just survived but thrived. Country's bedrock, linked to sanatan dharm, has been of inclusiveness of all faiths and identities," her post read.

On Monday, CPI's D Raja told The New Indian that Sanatana Dharma promotes inequality. "Everyone should understand that Sanatana is not dharma (religion). Dharma is something else. Sanatan doesn't recognize changes that are taking place in nature, society and human thinking," said Mr Raja.

Stalin Junior has refused to apologise. He has also accused the BJP of twisting his words.  

Speaking at a programme last week, Mr Stalin had compared "Sanatana Dharma" with diseases like dengue and malaria, sparking massive backlash. "Sanatana is like malaria and dengue and so it must be eradicated and not opposed," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.