Chennai, September 2: Tamil Nadu Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs and son of Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, Udayanidhi Stalin said that Sanatana dharma is like mosquitoes, dengue and malaria, and "it has to be eradicated".  He was speaking at a Sanatanam (Sanatan Dharma) Abolition  Conclave organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Forum. Udayanidhi in his speech said: "I thank the organisers for giving me the opportunity to speak at this conference to eradicate Sanatana  Dharma. I congratulate the organisers for calling the conference as 'eradication of Santana dharma' instead of 'opposing Sanatana Dharma'.

"There are certain things which we have to eradicate and we cannot merely oppose. Mosquitoes, dengue, corona and malaria are things which we cannot oppose, we have to eradicate them. Sanatanam is also like this. Eradication and not opposing Sanatanam has to be our first task," he added. The Sports Minister who is also the state secretary of DMK youth wing said that Sanatana Dharma was opposed to both equality and social justice. Cauvery Dispute: Karnataka Farmers Continue Protest Over Release of Cauvery Water to Tamil Nadu

He further added: "What is the meaning of Sanatanam? Eternal or something that cannot be changed, something that cannot be questioned and that is the meaning of Sanatanam." The young leader, who is also a movie actor and producer, said that Sanatanam used to divide people by caste and segregate them. He said: "However, our Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) brought every community into one village and gave it the name Samathuvapuram (equality village)." ‘Freebies’ vs ‘Welfarism’ Schemes: As Supreme Court Mulls Over Matter, RBI Raises Red Flags

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu unit BJP president, K. Annamalai questioned the statement of Udayanidhi Stalin, saying that "he was calling for the genocide of 80 per cent of the population of Bharat who follow Sanatan Dharma".  He asked whether this was what was agreed upon in the Mumbai meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc of which DMK is a prominent member.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 03, 2023 11:19 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).