"Sanatana is soul of this country": BJP leader CP Joshi on Kerala CM's remarks

New Delhi [India], January 1 (ANI): Following the remarks of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on 'Sanatana Dharma', Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chittorgarh MP CP Joshi on Wednesday said that Sanatana is the "soul of this country" and suggested the political parties to talk about development instead of this.
"Congress and its allies have been targeting Hinduism for a long time. Sometimes they abuse Hinduism, call Sanatan Dharma dengue-malaria and AIDS and sometimes call it Hindu terrorism, but I believe that Sanatana is the soul of this country... Political parties should stay away from all this and talk only about development in the country," Joshi told ANI.
Former Union Minister V. Muraleedharan took strong exception to the Kerala Chief Minister's recent remarks on Sanatana Dharma, calling them an insult to the faith and the Sivagiri Mutt. Speaking at the Sivagiri Mutt, Muraleedharan questioned if Vijayan would dare to make similar statements about other religions, including the Holy Quran.
Speaking to ANI, Muraleedharan said, "Pinarayi Vijayan insulted Sanatana Dharma at the holy land of Shivigiri. By doing this, the Chief Minister has insulted the Sivagiri Mutt and the Hindu community."
On Tuesday, while addressing the Sivagiri Pilgrimage, Pinarayi Vijayan said, "Sanatana Dharma is synonymous with or inseparable from the Varnashrama Dharma, which is based on the Chaturvarna system. What does this Varnashrama Dharma uphold? It glorifies hereditary professions. But what did Sree Narayana Guru do? He called for defiance of hereditary professions. How, then, can Guru be an advocate of Sanatana Dharma?"
"Guru's ascetic life was a constant questioning and defiance of the Chaturvarna system. How can someone who proclaimed, "One Caste, One Religion, One God for humankind," be an advocate of Sanatana Dharma, which is rooted in the confines of a single religion? Guru championed a dharma that opposed the caste system," Vijayan added. (ANI)