Chennai: Ahead of the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Tamil Nadu sports minister Udhayanidhi Stalin echoed the words of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) patriarch and his grandfather M. Karunanidhi that the Dravidian party cannot accept the construction of a temple by demolishing a mosque.
“Kalaignar had earlier said that we are not against any religion or religious belief but construction of a temple by demolishing a masjid that was there is what we are not in agreement with. As our party treasurer (T.R. Baalu) had said ‘we are clear we don’t want to mix politics and spirituality’,” Udhayanidhi told reporters Thursday, after flagging off a torch relay for the DMK’s Salem youth wing conference scheduled 21 January.
In September last year, Udhayanidhi was at the centre of a row after his remarks on Sanatana Dharma. The DMK Youth wing leader had noted that Sanatana was “against social justice and equality”, and was like “corona, malaria, dengue and it must be eradicated and not opposed”.
Though the remark did not trigger major ripples in DMK’s home turf of Tamil Nadu, the BJP went all out against Udhayanidhi with PM Narendra Modi instructing his ministers to respond to such remarks ‘with facts’.
Subsequently, the BJP lashed out at the first-time minister and called his statement as a call for “genocide” of Hindus. It went on to compare Udhayanidhi to Hitler and his remark to Holocaust.
On Sunday, Baalu released a statement stating that inauguration of the Ram Temple is not a “spiritual event” but rather a “political event”.
“Faith in God is an individual’s spiritual quest. It is an individual’s right. Using bhakti as a capital for political mobilisation and vote-bank politics is against the soul of India and values of the Constitution. It is not good for the nation’s future,” he said, accusing the BJP of failing to fulfil its poll promises and of pushing the middle and lower classes into crisis.
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Swipe at EPS, BJP reacts
On the remark of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, popularly called EPS, that attending the Ayodhya event was a personal choice, Udhayanidhi remarked that the rival party had sent its kar sevaks to Ayodhya during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Asked about EPS skipping the consecration ceremony due to leg pain, Udhayanidhi took a jibe at the former chief minister. “EPS has had the habit of crawling, and he might have acquired leg pain.”
Earlier on 11 January, the Leader of Opposition had stated that his party was beyond religion and caste. EPS added that he would like to participate in the consecration ceremony but decided against it due to ill health.
Countering Udhayanidhi’s remark, BJP Coimbatore MLA Vanathi Srinivasan cited a Supreme Court judgement to call the temple the rightful owner of the land.
“The Masjid was constructed after demolishing a temple there is what even the Supreme Court has said in its judgement. So isn’t it justice to give the land back to the ones who owned it, and even if we go by Udhayanidhi’s argument, the Supreme Court has given the land where the temple was back to the temple,” he told reporters.
“While Udhayanidhi’s father (M.K. Stalin) refused to accept the invitation in person, but Mrs (Durga) Stalin has accepted our invitation and has assured that she will come for the ceremony.”
“Like how DMK is going to Church and Masjid to wish the respective religious people. during their celebrations, It will only be social justice if you come to the Ram temple and extend your wishes to the Ram’s devotees,” said Vanathi Srinivasan.
Meanwhile, Udhayanidhi and the DMK youth wing are gearing up for the much awaited Second Youth Conference in Salem which was recheduled twice due to the rains and floods in the state.
The event with “state rights retrieval” as the theme will have three to four lakh youth wing volunteers, he said.
He further added that the DMK riders and bikers, who had travelled across Tamil Nadu, collected 85 lakh signatures in support of the state’s demand of abolishing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
Udhayanidhi stated that a memorandum will be handed over to the party chief and then later to the President in Delhi.
The youth conference would help prepare the youth for the Lok Sabha polls, take the party’s ideology and train the youth to reclaim all their lost rights during the nine years of the “AIADMK misrule”, he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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