Rama Krishna Sangem
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made Sanatan Dharma, which is under attack from DMK included INDIA front, an n issue in the coming five state assembly elections. DMK minister in Tamil Nadu and CM MK Stalin’s son Udayanidhi Stalin recently likened Sanatan Dharma to a virus and called to eradicate it. Ruling BJP took strong exception to it and demanded an apology from opposition INDIA front.
On September 14 Thursday, in his first public comments on the controversy, PM Narendra Modi urged people to be alert to the “designs” of the INDIA bloc of parties to “destroy” Sanatan Dharma, and push the country into another “thousand years of slavery”. The Prime Minister said Sanatan Dharma kept “Bharat” united for several millennia, asserting that Sanatan culture gave priority not to birth, but to a person’s karma.
Addressing public meetings in poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the Prime Minister spoke of the pride that every Indian has felt at the country successfully hosting the G20 Summit, but focused his attack on the “INDI Alliance” and “Ghamandiya”, or “arrogant” alliance on the Sanatan Dharma issue
Sanatan is of action, not of birth: Modi
Joining the issue with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks earlier this month, where the Tamil Nadu minister said Sanatan Dharma should be eradicated since it was against social justice, comparing it with dengue and malaria, Modi stressed upon Sanatan Dharma’s tenets that embraced people of all castes.
The Prime Minister said the age-old Sanatan culture is based on a person’s karma (action) and not birth, and guided Valmiki and Sant Ravidas. He said Sanatan Dharma’s philosophy and strength inspired Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi to battle the British and Mahatma Gandhi’s anti-untouchability campaign.
The Prime Minister was speaking after laying the foundation stone of a Rs 49,000 crore petrochemicals complex at Bina Refinery in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh along with ten other industrial projects. Reacting to the Prime Minister’s speech, Congress’ Jairam Ramesh criticised the Prime Minister for using the “occasion of a government function to abuse the Opposition”. “Stooping to his level, one could easily say he heads the GA-NDA coalition—Gautam Adani’s NDA,” Ramesh posted on X.
In his speech in Bina, Modi said not just Gandhi, whose last words were “Hey Ram”, but Sanatan Dharma inspired Ahilyabai Holkar’s fight for women empowerment, Swami Vivekananda’s reform movement, Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations and linking it with the freedom struggle and also thousands of freedom fighters. Modi urged patriots to unitedly stop the designs of the “INDI Alliance”.
Modi’s 7th visit to MP
At his Madhya Pradesh rally, the Prime Minister also spoke of how the BJP government has turned around the state, which was a laggard 18 years back, and his “guarantees” for the poor and farmers. He said the 500th birth anniversary of Rani Durgavati, a tribal ruler who attained martyrdom while fighting the Mughals, will be celebrated in a grand manner on October 5, the prime minister said. This was the Prime Minister’s eighth visit to the state since 17 September last year, his birthday, when he released cheetahs from Namibia in the Kuno National Park.
Later in the day, the Prime Minister addressed a rally at Kondatarai village in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district. Modi said the Opposition’s greed for power was driving its attack on Sanatan Dharma. “Sanatan culture is the one in which Lord Ram calls Shabari as his mother and enjoys eating her half-eaten ber (juthe ber),” said Modi.
“Sanatan culture is the one wherein Ram considers forest dwellers and Nishad Raj greater than his brother. Sanatan culture is the one where Ram embraces the boatman rowing the boat. Sanatan culture is one which gives priority not to birth, but to a person’s karma (action),” he said.
