'Udhayanidhi diverting people's attention with remark on Sanatana Dharma'

COIMBATORE: Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks on Sanatana Dharma are merely diversionary, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said on Tuesday, accusing the ruling DMK of “enacting a drama to cover up its failures”, even as the young minister reacted to a ‘seer’ putting a bounty on his head.

Whenever the DMK faced problems it took up an issue to divert the people’s attention, and Udhayanidhi’s remarks can be seen as diverting the people’s attention to conceal the deteriorating law and order, especially the increasing crimes, spiralling prices of commodities and other issues, he said.

On Saturday, Udhayanidhi, who is Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister, was addressing the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association in Chennai when he said that Sanatana is against equality and social justice. He likened Sanatana Dharma to the coronavirus, malaria and dengue and said such things should not be opposed but eliminated.

Following this, the head priest of Ayodhya Tapasvi Chhawni Temple ‘Mahant’ Paramhans Das announced a reward of Rs 10 crore to anyone who beheads Udhayanidhi Stalin; and subsequently a section of DMK cadres burnt the effigy of the seer in Vellore to express their ire.

Udhayanidhi, who is in the southern district of Thoothukudi, today remarked that the announcement of Rs 10 crore was a hefty sum. “A comb priced Rs 10 is enough to comb my hair,” he sarcastically said and sought to know if the saint was genuine or fake.

“From (Home Minister) Amit Shah to (BJP national president) J P Nadda, everyone is talking about Udhayanidhi. A complaint has been filed against me all over India and now a saint has set a prize for my head,” Udhyanidhi said.

Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Palaniswami said, “It is an irony that the DMK, which voted against Ramnath Kovind and Droupadi Murmu, who represent the marginalised section, in the Presidential elections, is talking about social justice. Now against Sanatana Dharma, which is diversionary.” As far as the AIADMK is concerned, Palaniswami said that his party is beyond caste and religion.

“Being the grandson of (former Chief Minister) M Karunanidhi and son of Chief Minister M K Stalin, Udhayanidhi is trying to project himself. What is his achievement?” Palaniswami, a former chief minister, asked.

In Chennai, former AIADMK Minister D Jayakumar wondered if Udhayanidhi deserved to continue in the post, for his “despicable” remarks on Sanatana Dharma. Seemingly equating Sanatana Dharma with Hinduism, Jayakumar added that targeting a specific religion was against the Constitution.

When a reporter asked about the Ayodhya temple priest’s bounty on Udhayanidhi and the subsequent burning of the effigy of the ‘seer’, Jayakumar told reporters that “violence can never be the solution.” Mocking Udhayanidhi’s mention of a ‘comb’ in response to the bounty, Jayakumar alluded to the minister’s earlier acting career, saying he “always thinks of soap, comb and mirror”.