'Sanatana Dharma' Row: Udhayanidhi Stalin Breaks His Silence Over Criticisms By BJP

Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development of Tamil Nadu Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sunday claimed that he was right over his remarks for 'Sanatana Dharma', and that he never called it genocide as alleged by the BJP.

Reacting to the criticisms over 'Sanatana Dharma' by the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, Stalin said he never called 'Sanatana Dharma' genocide as described by the BJP leaders. He further questioned whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi means Congressmen should be killed by 'Congress Mukt Bharat'.

Emphasising over the criticism over eradicating 'Sanatana Dharma' by Stalin that stirred controversy since Saturday, the Tamil Nadu Minister said, "I am saying again that I only criticised 'Sanatana Dharma' and that it should be abolished. I will say this continuously."

"Few are being childish saying I invited for genocide while others are saying that Dravidam should be abolished. Does that mean DMKians should be killed? When PM Modi says 'Congress Mukt Bharat', does that mean Congressmen should be killed?" he added.

Earlier, Union Minister Amit Shah slammed the INDIA bloc over Stalin's remarks by saying that the new alliance is against 'Hindutva'.

On the other hand, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman shared an old video that exposed a Congress leader speaking about abolishing Sanatana Dharma and BJP.

Amid criticism over his comment, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram defended Stalin by saying that Sanatan Dharma in the common discourse of Tamil Nadu meant caste-based society and nothing else. Sanatana means nothing should be changed and all are permanent. But the Dravida model calls for change and all should be equal. However, BJP is manipulating and spreading fake news.

Earlier on Saturday, Stalin while addressing an event in stated Sanatana Dharma is like dengue, and malaria and has to be abolished instead of just opposing them. However, his comment stirred controversy and led to a debate over 'Hindutva'.