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Former judges among 200 urge CJI to take action on Udhayanidhi’s ‘hate’ remarks
The three-page letter was signed by former judge of the Delhi high court, SN Dhingra and shipping secretary Gopal Krishna
Chennai: Amid a furore led by the BJP against the DMK minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks on ‘sanatana dharma’, more than 200 former judges, bureaucrats and officers of the armed forces have requested the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud to take suo motu cognisance of his “hate speech” which “could incite communal disharmony and sectarian violence.”
The issue began after Tamil Nadu chief minister’s son and minister for sports, Udhayanidhi Stalin on Saturday during an event in Chennai had said that “Sanathana Dharma must be eradicated like malaria and dengue.”
On Sunday, Union home minister Amit Shah accused the opposition bloc INDIA (which includes the DMK) of “hating Hinduism” and “ attacking our heritage”. The issue has continued to escalate with the BJP mounting its attack on the INDIA alliance, DMK. While allies of the DMK in Tamil Nadu have backed Udhayanidhi, the other parties in the India alliance such All India Trinamool Congress have called for a nuanced approach.
“These remarks undeniably amount to hate speech against a large population of India and strikes at the very core of the Constitution of India which envisages Bharat as a secular nation,” the letter to the CJI read. “Moreover, the rule of law was further undermined when the State Government of Tamil Nadu refused to take any action against Udhayanidhi Stalin and rather chose to justify his remarks.”
The three-page letter was signed by former judge of the Delhi high court, SN Dhingra and shipping secretary Gopal Krishna. As many as 262 signatories comprising 14 former judges, 130 former bureaucrats and 118 army veterans are part of the signatories.
They accused the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government of going against the Supreme Court’s judgments which had previously directed that state governments to take so motu action against any hate speech crime without waiting for any complaint. “Thus, cases should be suo motu registered and the offenders should be proceeded against in accordance with law. Any hesitation to act as per the directions would be viewed as contempt of court,” the letter said.
Udhayanidhi has continued to stand by his statement. Tamil Nadu Congress committee chief KS Alagiri described Udhayanidhi as a “young Periyar” (EV Ramaswamy) the father of the Dravidian movement who had opposed sanatana dharma.
“Are they suggesting that Sanatana dharma, which classifies people as untouchables, must not be changed?” questioned Alagiri. “Udhayanidhi has the right to say it. His father, grandfather, party founder Anna, and Periyar have said the same. Are you (BJP) making a fuss because of the approaching elections? Amit Shah is using it to divert people in the north by alleging that DMK and Congress are anti-Hindu.”
BJP’s Tamil Nadu state vice president Narayanan Thirupathy reacted to Alagiri’s remarks as the DMK and Congress conspiring. “So now it is clear and proven that it is the conspiracy of the Congress with the DMK to demolish Hindu religion, that is, sanatana dharma in order to get the votes of the minority religion,” said Thirupathy.
AIADMK broke their silence over the issue on Tuesday which the party general secretary and leader of opposition Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) terming it as DMK’s diversionary tactics.
“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,” EPS said.
Meanwhile Udhyanidhi on Tuesday took light of the situation of a seer putting a bounty on his head for ₹10 crore. “A comb priced ₹10 is enough to comb my hair,” he said and questioned if the seer was genuine or fake. “From Amit Shah to (BJP national president) JP 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,” he said.
