The Madras High Court has been informed that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin that his statement on Sanatana Dharma were not demeaning or against Hinduism.
The Leader said that his statement was not criticizing Hindu way of life but merely a call for ending caste based discriminatory practices.
Stalin was represented by Senior Counsel P Wilson who told the single-judge Justice Anitha Sumanth that DMK was elected to power by the people of Tamil Nadu, the majority of whom were practicing Hindus.
Advocate Wilson contended that majority of the State and even the majority of the DMK’s cadres were Hindus and it were them who had elected the DMK government in Tamil Nadu.
A conference was organised by the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association in Chennai on September 2, Udhayanidhi Stalin had said that a few things must not merely be opposed but should be eradicated.
In this speech, Stalin said that just like dengue, mosquitoes, malaria, or coronavirus need to be eradicated, we have to eradicate Sanatana.
Office bearers of right wing organisation Hindu Munnani then filed three writ petitions before the High Court taking objection to Stalin’s remarks.
During the hearing Wilson also claimed that the writ petition filed against Stalin, DMK member PK Sekar Babu and party MP A Raja were politically motivated.
The Senior Counsel argued that prescribing rules for disqualification of MPs and MLAs was the sole prerogative of the parliament under Article 191(e) and that the Court should respect the separation of powers.
Wilson said that only when there is any vacuum in the Constitution, the Court can intervene but not when the parliament has already prescribed certain disqualifications.
Senior Counsel G Rajagopalan, who represented petitioners,argued that if DMK believed it was brought to power by Hindus, then it was actually “oxymoronic” for its leaders to openly denounce or call for ending Sanatana Dharma.
Rajagopalan also argued that DMK MP A Raja had been made member of parliament on the SC/ST quota and such reservation was open only for those who were Hindus.
All lawyers completed their oral arguments and the Court reserved its order on the pleas.
The Court has granted a week’s time to all parties to submit their written arguments.
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