Tamil Nadu
Udhayanidhi Refuses To Apologise, Says President Murmu Not Being Invited To Inaugurate New Parliament Is Due To Discrimination Under Sanatana Dharma
S Rajesh
Sep 06, 2023, 11:47 AM | Updated 11:47 AM IST
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Chief Minister MK Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin has refused to apologise for his remarks calling for the eradication of Sanatana Dharma and said that he is ready to face any legal action.
When asked by an NDTV reporter to provide an example of discrimination due to Sanatana Dharma, he stated that it was due to Sanatana Dharma that President Droupadi Murmu was not invited to inaugurate the new Parliament.
Earlier, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), regarding Teacher's Day, he had written, "Teachers are incomparable people who always think only about the future generation. The bond between our Dravidian movement and teachers who preach virtue without asking thumbs up! It will continue forever. Happy Teacher's Day."
This was seen as a reference to Dronacharya asking for Ekalavya's thumb as Guru Dakshina.
A number of opposition parties including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had boycotted the inauguration of the new Parliament saying that President Murmu should have inaugurated it instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia had then said that the opposition to PM Modi inaugurating the new Parliament building was due to an "extreme hatred for Prime Minister Modi."
Complaints have been filed against Udhayanidhi's comments in places like Delhi, Muzaffarpur and Lucknow. A letter signed by 262 eminent citizens was sent to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on 5 September asking him to take cognisance of the comments. The signatories stated that what Udhayanidhi had said constituted 'hate speech' and that the Tamil Nadu government should have taken action against him.
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S Rajesh is Staff Writer at Swarajya.
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