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‘Till bhakts are alive': Smriti Irani on Udhayanidhi's Sanatana remark
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked the ministers to ‘fight falsehoods and attacks on issues of faith.
Union minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday took a veiled jibe at Udhayanidhi Stalin over his remark on ‘Sanatana Dharma’ that has triggered a massive political slugfest in the country.
“Those who challenge 'Sanatan Dharma', the voice should reach them that till the 'bhakts' are alive, no one can challenge their religion,” PTI quoted the minister telling devotees at the Shri Krishna Janmashtami Celebration event organised by Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan in Delhi.
Irani's statement comes in wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking his cabinet colleagues to ‘fight falsehoods and attacks on issues of faith’. According to an HT report, the ministers have been told to “assertively face falsehoods and attacks against the issues of faith and to put things in the right context and also rely on the provisions of the Constitution that do not allow denigration of any religion”.
Addressing an event organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association, Udhayanidhi Stalin had said that Sanatana Dharma was against the idea of social justice and needed to be eradicated.
“A few things cannot be opposed, that should be abolished only. We can't oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria, or corona. We have to eradicate this, that's how we have to eradicate Sanatana. Rather opposing Sanatana it should be eradicated", Udhayanidhi, who is the son of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, was quoted saying.
The DMK leader's remark sparked a massive row with several BJP leaders, Union ministers and chief ministers hitting out at his party and the I.N.D.I.A alliance of which the DMK is a member.
“...For the last two days INDIA alliance is insulting 'Sanatana Dharma'. Leaders of DMK and Congress are talking about ending 'Sanatana Dharma' just for vote bank politics. This is not the first time they have insulted our ‘Sanatana Dharma’”, Union home minister Amit Shah had said at a rally in poll-bound Rajasthan.
