"Opposing Caste Hegemony Is Not Unconstitutional": Udhayanidhi Stalin On Sanatan Dharma Hearing
Tamil Nadu Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Udhayanidhi Stalin on Monday defended his views on the controversial Sanatan Dharma row before the Madras High Court and explained that, holding an outlook against caste hegemony is not unconstitutional. He appeared before Justice Anita Sumanth in opposition to a writ of quo warranto filed against his earlier comments on the eternal duties of manhood prescribed by Hinduism.
The minister was supported by the Senior Counsel P Wilson and Mr Wilson held up the opinion that Mr Stalin is intended to retrieve the current society from the still prevailing conditions of dark ages, where men and women were considered unequal and treated in a most undemocratic manner.
Mr Stalin upheld his determination to eradicate social discrimination on the grounds of caste, creed, and sex from the state and termed them as totally unconstitutional. Representing the minister, Mr Wilson replied the writ petitioner T Manohar, a Hindu Munnani office-bearer, that Mr Manohar wanted to take the society back to the dark ages, when men and women are treated unequal, and when people born into the so-called “lower caste” were shunned, ostracised and treated as second-class citizens, reported The Hindu. The advocate was quoting a 1902 literature on Sanatan Dharma.
Sanatana Dharma, or Sanatanists, were an integral part of the public discourse in the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the twentieth century. Unlike a tool used by ethno-nationalists in contemporary times to create a united Hindu identity, Sanatanist”s were primarily concerned with the literal understanding of Sanatana Dharma and focused on the duties prescribed to individuals, according to their caste.
A writ of quo warrant was filed against the minister by T Manohar questioning, under what authority the minister is continuing in office. A quo warrant is issued by the court usually to enquire into the legality of the claim of a person to a public office. “The present writ petition is politically motivated. It is a classic case of the abuse of the process of the court. A certain ideology that is opposed to the more than 100 years old Dravidian ideology is attempting to use the court process to settle political and social questions”, reads the counter-affidavit filed by the minister.
Udhayanidhi Stalin’s comments on ‘Sanatana Dharma’, while speaking at a writers’ conference in Chennai, caused big uproar in Tamil Nadu and outside the state. He also faced attacks from the ruling BJP and its national leaders.
