Sanatana Dharma remarks: Kerala CM Pinarayi sparks fury – ‘will he dare speak against other religion?’ BJP fires back

Sanatana Dharma remarks: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s recent remarks on Sanatana Dharma have sparked criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party.

Sanatana Dharma is a term used sometimes as a synonym for Hinduism.

Vijayan triggered a political row on December 31 when he said that social reformer Narayana Guru should not be viewed as a proponent of Sanatana Dharma.

“He challenged the Varnashrama system and reconstructed Sanatana Dharma. He upheld a secular humanistic worldview. Any attempt to confine that view within the framework of Sanatana Dharma will be an insult to Guru,” the CPI-M leader said, addressing a meeting in connection with the annual pilgrimage to Sivagiri mutt, established by Guru at Varkala.

“How can Narayana Guru, who propagated the concept of ‘One Caste, One Religion, One God’, be an advocate of Sanatana Dharma?” asked the Kerala CM.

Opposition Congress leader in Kerala VD Satheesan criticised Vijayan’s statement, accusing him of distorting the essence of Sanatana Dharma and attributing it to one section of society. “We must realise that Sanatana Dharma is the tradition and heritage of the entire people of this country. The very word saffronisation that was used in the past is wrong,” Satheesan said.

While Congress and CPI-M are national allies in the INDIA bloc, the two parties are rivals in Kerala.

Undermining Kerala’s secularism

CPI-M leader Thomas Isaac defended Vijayan and accused Satheesan of aligning with forces undermining Kerala’s secularism. 

“We have a strange spectacle from the opposition leader. He has lost his vision because of his anger against the government. He finds an ally in anybody who opposes the government. He forgets that the BJP is making ideological inroads into Kerala, undermining Kerala’s secularism. This is about protecting Kerala’s secularism,” Isaac said in response to Satheesan’s criticism, as reported by India Today.

Maligns the Hindu philosophy, says BJP

The BJP also joined the controversy. On Thursday, the party’s senior leader from Kerala, V Muraleedharan, raised questions about the Congress party’s stance on the matter. Muraleedharan pointed out a contradiction within the Congress: the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, Satheesan, disagreed with the Chief Minister’s remarks, while the state Congress president supported them.

“Even while the Congress leader of Kerala and the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly disagrees with the Chief Minister’s comments on Sanatan Dharma and opposes the term of saffronisation, his own party president of Kerala has supported the statement of the Chief Minister that Sanatana Dharma is nothing but bringing back monarchy and bringing back casteism,” Muraleedharan was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The BJP leader asked for clarification on the Congress party’s position for the top brass, emphasising that the Kerala Chief Minister’s comments were damaging to Hindu philosophy.

“I would like to know what Congress stands on this. There is a huge issue that has come up in Kerala where the Chief Minister of the state has tried to malign the Hindu philosophy,” he said.

“Vijayan has insulted the entire Sree Narayaneeya community (Hindu Ezhava community, which is traditionally pro-Left). Vijayan is of the view that Sanatana Dharma is despicable. His comment is a continuation of the stand of DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin that Sanatana Dharma has to be eradicated. Will Vijayan have the courage to speak out against any other religion?” he asked, Indian Express reported. 

Udhayanidhi, who is now deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu, had saprked a row last year when he said that Sanatana Dharma is incompatible with the concept of social justice and should be “eliminated.”