Nilgiris Lok Sabha MP A. Raja said that Sanatana Dharma was like the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that needed to be destroyed.
To get today’s top stories from the State in your inbox, subscribe to our Tamil Nadu Today newsletter
In a meeting with DMK booth agents in Udhagamandalam on September 7, Mr. Raja said that people in North India had become aware of the need to defeat Hindutva forces, and were looking towards the DMK and Dravidian parties for “the cure.”
Criticising the response of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to the “barbarous” sexual assault of two Kuki women in Manipur, he said, “This is how things are in the country. India is burning and there is no safety for anyone.”
Also Read | Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks require proper response, PM Modi tells Ministers at informal meeting
Mr. Raja said that the DMK did not interfere in the religious beliefs of people, but only opposed the use of religion by the government to inflict violence on minorities. “Everyone is ready to kill the poisonous snake, but nobody has the cure to the bite from the snake, except Periyar, Anna, and the DMK,” said Mr. Raja.
“This is the reason people in North India don’t know what Sanatana Dharma is, while we do,” said Mr. Raja, adding that he supported Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development, Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks comparing Sanatana Dharma with dengue and malaria.
Mr. Raja said that while dengue and malaria do not have any stigma attached to them, the HIV virus does.
Also Read | Remarks by Udhayanidhi and A. Raja reflect ‘deep rooted Hinduphobia of INDIA bloc parties’: Union Minister
“Just like the disease is very dangerous, it [Sanatana Dharma] is very dangerous, and it is our duty to root it out in its entirety,” said Mr. Raja.
Also present at the meeting were top district-level functionaries of the DMK, as well as Tamil Nadu Tourism Minister K. Ramachandran.
