Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reportedly asked his Council of Ministers to give a “proper response” to Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin’s remarks equating “Sanatana Dharma” with malaria, dengue, corona and calling for its “eradication”. According to various media reports, Prime Minister Modi told this to the council of ministers during a meeting held in New Delhi on Wednesday ahead of the G20 Summit.
The prime minister also advised the ministers against making unnecessary remarks on the “India-Bharat” debate and said that only those who are authorized will speak on the issue. “Don’t go into history, stick to basic facts,” PM Modi said during the meeting.
The remarks from the prime minister have come days after Udhayanidhi’s remarks triggered a massive backlash from the BJP and some members of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc. While the BJP termed it a strategy of the INDIA bloc parties to demean the Hindu religion and accused the DMK leader of calling for the “genocide of India’s 80 per cent population” who follows “Sanatana Dharma”.
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INDIA bloc member and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that Stalin junior should equally respect all the religions and don’t make remarks that hurt the alliance. The Congress party said that all religions must be respected but added people have the right to express their views. However, Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyanak Kharge supported Stalin junior and said that any religion that denies equal rights is as good as a disease.
Another controversy that found mention in PM Modi’s remark was the India-Bharat debate which ignited after official dinner invitations from the President’s Office mentioned her as “President of Bharat” instead of the traditional “President of India”. Also, a note on PM Modi’s Indonesia visit used the term “Prime Minister of Bharat”.
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This fanned the rumours that the government is planning to remove the English name of the country from the Constitution. The Opposition parties claimed the government is wary of using the India name after they named their alliance INDIA- an acronym for Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance.
The government rejected Opposition’s claims as rumours and said that the name Bharat is already there in the Constitution. Article 1 of the Constitution does refer the country as “India that is Bharat.”