'I will say it again and again': DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sanatan Dharma remark

DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin said that he would “stick” to his “Sanatan Dharma should be eradicated” remark, declaring that he would “say the same thing again and again.” Just a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s son found himself at the centre of a row for saying that Sanatan Dharma is incompatible with the concept of social justice and should be “eradicated,” Udhayanidhi clarified that he had “only condemned caste differences.” “It’s their (BJP’s) habit of spreading fake news. I will always stick to whatever I said, and I will say it again and again. I never spoke about genocide. I only spoke about ‘Sanatan’, what practices they follow, and I definitely stand against it. I will never step back from whatever I said,” Stalin told News18. “Day before yesterday I spoke at a function about it (Sanatana Dharma). Whatever I said, I’ll repeat the same thing again and again…I included all the religions and not just Hindus…I spoke condemning the caste differences that’s all," he added. The DMK leader, who also serves as a minister in Tamil Nadu, alleged that the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was “twisting his statement and spreading fake news.” He reiterated that his comments must be read against the backdrop of cast hierarchy. “I am ready to face whatever cases they file against me. BJP is scared of the INDIA alliance and to divert that they are saying all this,” Stalin said. Stalin’s comment has triggered a row among political parties with BJP accusing Congress and the I.N.D.I.A bloc of protecting the leader by using “freedom of speech as a veil.” Meanwhile, on Monday, the rights body Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) issued a legal notice to the Police Commissioner of Greater Chennai for suo motu registering an FIR against him for delivering “hate speech” targeting the followers of Sanatan Dharma.