DMK leaders asked to go easy on Sanathan debate

CHENNAI: The high command of the ruling DMK has instructed its leaders to go easy on the Sanathan Dharma discourse.

DT Next has reliably learnt that the DMK leadership has strictly instructed its leaders not to make statements, let alone 'provocative' one's about Sanathan Dharma.

The gag order is understood to have been issued by Arivalayam after a few members of the INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) expressed reservations to the frank and daring remarks of DMK leaders about Sanathan Dharma.

If sources in the state Congress are to be believed, a top-level leader of one of the INDIA alliance parties has reportedly conveyed their discomfiture and urged the DMK leadership to keep on tight leash its outspoken leaders, including state sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin who kicked off the sanathana dharma debate by reiterating the party's long-held views at the "Sanathana Dharma annihilation" conference organized by Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association.

A state Congress senior, unwilling to be quoted, reasoned that the argument of the DMK on the sanathan issue was not new to them or other INDIA alliance leaders, but parties in the north have a different take because the public perception of Sanathan Dharma here and there is completely different.

A DMK insider argued on condition of anonymity that their leaders have only stated a bit of what Periyar and Ambekdar have propounded long ago. "The BJP is trying to exploit the issue to cover its tracks. Adani, CAG report on seven different scams, Chinese incursion and Manipur issue have totally overwhelmed the BJP. Rising inflation and unemployment levels are also haunting the BJP. So, they are hiding behind Hindutva as usual to cover up their failure and inefficiency. We do not intend to provide fodder to their political critique. Why should we fall into their political trap? That is why our CM has advised us not to fall for the BJP ploy, " the DMK senior argued.