"Must be removed from his post": BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla over Udhayanidhi's 2023 remarks on Sanatana Dharma

New Delhi [India], January 21 (ANI): BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla on Wednesday said Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin should be removed from his post and legal action should be initiated against him over his 2023 remarks on Sanatana Dharma.
He said that instead of acting against Udhayanidhi Stalin for his comments, the DMK government and the state machinery pursued action against Malviya, who had only highlighted the issue.
Poonawalla's remarks come a day after the Madras High Court quashed a case against BJP IT chief Amit Malviya, who had termed Udhayanidhi's remarks a call for genocide.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Poonawalla said, "Not only has the Madras High Court quashed DMK's FIR against Amit Malviya, but also said that this statement is coming from a legacy of anti-Hindu and anti-Constitutional DNA of DMK."
"Udhayanidhi Stalin must be removed from his post, and a case should be filed against him for what has been called hate speech against 80% of the population of this country, the Hindu community," he further said.
Poonawalla said the Madras High Court had not only quashed the FIR against Malviya but also observed that the remarks made by Udhayanidhi Stalin amounted to hate speech.
He alleged that the FIR reflected what he described as the DMK's "anti-Hindu and anti-Constitutional" approach.
"Satyameva Jayate. Truth always prevails... The Madras High Court has quashed an FIR filed with a vendetta mindset, only to punish and penalise our leader, IT Cell Chief, and co-incharge for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, for speaking the truth... In 2023, Udhayanidhi Stalin attended a conference that discussed not resistance or trying to fight Sanatan, but the complete eradication and abolition of Sanatan. Udhayanidhi Stalin not only attended the conference but also made comments against the religion. He compared Sanatan to dengue, malaria, and in a sense, it was a chilling call to genocide of Hindus... Rather than acting against Udhayanidhi Stalin, the entire DMK and the state government machinery went after Amit Malviya, who just raised the issue," he said.
The Madras High Court noted that the minister's 2023 remarks, which Malviya had labelled as a call for genocide, amounted to hate speech, leading to the FIR against him.
Back in 2023, Malviya posted on X, "Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of Tamilnadu CM MK Stalin, and a minister in the DMK Govt, has linked Sanatana Dharma to malaria and dengue... He is of the opinion that it must be eradicated and not merely opposed. In short, he is calling for the genocide of 80% population of Bharat, who follow Sanatan Dharma."
His remarks come after Udhayanidhi said at a conference in Chennai previously that 'Sanatana' (Sanatan Dharma) is like malaria and dengue, which should not be merely opposed but eradicated.
"A few things cannot be opposed but should only be abolished. We can't merely oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria, or coronavirus. They have to be eradicated. Rather than opposing Sanatana, it should be eradicated," he said. (ANI)