Sanatan Dharma remark row: Udhayanidhi Stalin, Priyank Kharge booked in UP

The FIR was lodged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or the religious beliefs) and 153 A (promoting enmity between two different groups), said the police. Udhayanidhi was booked for his call to eradicate Sanatan Dharma and Kharge for backing his remark, the police said.

During an event on Saturday, Udhayanidhi, the minister for sports and youth affairs in the Tamil Nadu government and son of Chief Minister M K Stalin, compared Sanatan Dharma with diseases like dengue and malaria. He said Sanatan Dharma should not merely be opposed but eradicated. His comments sparked a backlash from political parties, with BJP insisting on the Congress to condemn his remarks.

Supporting the DMK leader, Priyank, son of All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge, said any religion that does not ensure the dignity of a human being is like a disease.

Complainant Lodhi stated that he came to know about the comments of Udhayanidhi and Priyank through a newspaper, and his feelings got hurt. Station House Officer (Civil Lines police station) Pankaj Pant said the complainant said he read that Udhayanidhi had compared Sanathan Dharma with dengue and malaria and called for its eradication just like that of these diseases.

“The complainant said the next day he found in a newspaper of Priyank Kharge supporting Udhayanidhi’s statement in a public meeting,” said Pant.

A Supreme Court lawyer had also filed a complaint with Delhi Police against Udhayanidhi, claiming that he had made a provocative, inflammatory, derogatory, and inciting statement.