While Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s recent comments about “eradicating Sanatana Dharma” have snowballed into a political controversy, it was VCK founder Thol. Thirumavalavan who had enshrined Sanatana Dharma in the lexicon of Tamil Nadu’s political discourse over the past five years.
In 2019, just before the Lok Sabha election, Mr. Thirumavalavan organised the ‘Save Nation’ conference against ‘Sanatana forces’ in Tiruchi, which was attended, among others, by DMK leader and incumbent Chief Minister M.K. Stalin. While he had attacked Hindutva and Sangh Parivar politics in the past, Mr. Thirumavalavan said he chose the term ‘Sanatana Dharma’ to sidestep the problem of being painted as anti-Hindu.
“I have been speaking against Sanatana Dharma for the past 30 years. But the use of the term in political discourse began only in the public rally in Tiruchi before the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Before that, it was widely debated, discussed, and used in seminars and academic spaces. Throughout my political career I have spoken about this,” he told The Hindu on Tuesday.
