FAITH ACCOMPLI

SANATANA DHARMA CONTROVERSY

- Amarnath K. Menon

It's a complex phrase whose meaning can change depending on who you ask. It is variously seen as denoting: 1) the Hindu code of life, 2) the entirety of Hinduism, expressed in the only way it refers to itself in the classical texts, or 3) merely its more orthodox Brahminical strand, aloof from the devotional practices of the common people. But an incendiary remark comparing 'Sanatana dharma' to "dengue, malaria or corona" and calling for its eradication has sparked a major row. "In certain matters, mere opposition isn't enough, we should work to end it"-that was Tamil Nadu youth welfare and sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin before he launched into the controversial statements at a conference of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers in Chennai on September 2. The symposium, incidentally, was on the 'Abolition of Sanatana'. That's evidently in line with the third definition above-the interpretation preferred within the anti-Brahminist Dravidian movement.

But the BJP and the Sangh Parivar have not taken kindly to his words, and parse it to mean an attack on the whole of Hinduism-a call for "genocide", as a party spokesman tweeted. Soon, cases were being registered against Udhayanidhi, who's the son of Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin, in far-flung Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. A sadhu in Ayodhya put a Rs 10 crore bounty on his head and Union ministers and BJP leaders like Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh condemned the remarks. Even the Prime Minister's Office weighed in, saying Stalin Jr's statement needed a befitting reply. Stepping up the heat, the BJP on September 5 likened the comments to Hitler's rants on the Jews. "Uday Stalin's meditated comment is unadulterated hate speech," the BJP's official handle tweeted on X, deploring the support offered by the Congress and the INDIA bloc for "Stalin's bile".