Sanatan Dharma Row: As the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) accused the Congress of condoning DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks against Sanatan Dharma and the grand old party maintained an ambiguous stance over the issue, Congress leader Acharya Pramod has now denounced the statement and asked for the dismissal of the Tamil Nadu minister. Congress and DMK are partners in the opposition's mega I.N.D.I.A bloc.
This comes after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said there was no need to mix politics with religion and party MP Rahul Gandhi also asked the leaders to steer clear of the matter and not step into BJP's 'distraction tactic'.
Now, Acharya Pramod said India cannot be imagined without 'Santana Dharma' and abusing the same has become a "fashion". He said the incident has hurt several people in the country, adding that if a leader is abusing 'Sanatana Dharma' after taking the oath of the Constitution, "they should be dismissed".
While talking to news agency ANI, Acharya Pramod said, "Abusing 'Sanatana Dharma' is not Secularism. This act (abusing 'Sanatana Dharma') is hurting several people in the country. One can not even imagine India without Sanatana. Abusing 'Sanatana Dharma' has become a fashion. Sometimes an SP leader abuses it, the other times a DMK leader abuses it. All of them have taken the oath of the Constitution. So I think if a leader is abusing 'Sanatana Dharma' after taking the oath of the Constitution, they should be dismissed."
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Earlier the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Tamil Nadu government and Udhayanidhi Stalin for his remarks on the aforementioned. A petition was filed in the apex court a few days back that sought an order to register an FIR against the TN Minister for his remarks. The petitioner also sought to declare the participation of Udhayanidhi in the Sanatan Dharma conference as "Unconstitutional."
Stalin, however, on Saturday said that he hadn't received any notice yet.