Sanatana Dharma row: Police inaction against ministers amounted to dereliction of duty, observes Madras HC

Court holds police accountable

The court observed that a person in power should realise the danger of a speech causing fissiparous tendencies, and behave responsibly and restrain themselves from propagating views that divide people in the name of ideology, caste, and religion.

“Instead, they may concentrate on eradicating intoxicating drinks and drugs, which are injurious to health, corruption, untouchability, and other social evils,” the judge said on 31 October.

“Since the police failed to act against those who had delivered inflammatory speeches to eradicate Sanatana Dharma, now permission to counter it by conducting a meeting to eradicate the Dravidian ideology is being sought by the present petitioner,” the court pointed out.

Further, the judge noted that if the request of the petitioner is allowed, it will further disturb the peace and tranquility “of the public, who are already fed up with the way some of the fringe groups in support of persons, who have taken the oath of office to preserve the spirit of Constitution, act in breach of their oath”.

Related: Sanatana must be eradicated, like corona or dengue, says Udhayanidhi Stalin

Dereliction of duty

Noting that no one can expect courts to aid in propagating ideas to create ill-will among the public, Justice Jayachandran observed, “Some members of the ruling party and ministers participated in the meeting held for eradicating Sanatana Dharma and no action has been taken by the police against them, which is a dereliction of duty on the part of the police.”

The judge said that no person in this country has a right to propagate divisive ideas and conduct a meeting to abolish or eradicate any ideology and the co-existence of multiple and different ideologies is the identity of this country.

A Chennai resident, Mahesh Karthikeyan, had approached the court, stating that the police were not permitting him to conduct a conference demanding “eradication of Dravidian ideology” and prayed for a direction to permit him to organise the event.

Also read: Fresh case registered against Udhayanidhi Stalin in Maharashtra

Udhayanidhi Stalin reacts

Udhayanidhi Stalin, on Monday, 6 November, said that there was nothing wrong in his remarks made in September on Sanatana Dharma.

Udhayanidhi told reporters, “There was nothing wrong in what I had spoken. We will face the matter legally. I will not change my stand. I have only talked about my ideology.”

He reiterated his stand while answering a question on the Madras High Court’s observation.

Citing iconic leaders, Dr BR Ambedkar and Periyar EV Ramasamy, Udhayanidhi said that his remark on Sanatana Dharma was not something that had not been spoken before by such leaders.

He was speaking to reporters after visiting Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi chief Thol Thirumavalavan as part of the DMK’s signature campaign against NEET.

Also read: BJP hits out at INDIA bloc; disagree with remarks, says Congress

Background of the issue

On 2 September 2023, Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister PK Sekar Babu participated in a conference held for the “annihilation of Sanatana Dharma” in Chennai, conducted by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers’ Association.

Addressing the meeting, the sports minister equated Sanatana Dharma to the coronavirus, malaria, dengue, and mosquitoes, calling for it to be eradicated. This caused country-wide uproar.

However, Congress MP in Lok Sabha Karti Chidambaram defended Udhayanidhi Stalin’s statement. Taking to social media, Karti said that in the common parlance of Tamil Nadu, “Sanatana Dharma” means caste hierarchical society.

Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, too, reacting to Udhayanidhi’s remarks, said that any religion that does not give equal rights is not a religion and “is as good as a disease”.

“Any religion that does not promote equality, any religion that doesn’t ensure that you have the dignity of being a human being is not a religion, according to me. So it is as good as a disease,” Priyank Kharge said.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary KC Venugopal said that while the Congress’s stand is clear, every other political party has the freedom to express its own view.

“Actually, our view is very clear — ‘Sarvadharma Sambhav’ (equal respect to all religions) is the Congress ideology. But you have to understand that every political party has its own freedom to tell their views,” he said.
“We are respecting everybody’s beliefs,” the Congress leader said.