Sanatan Dharma Row: Madras HC Quashes FIR Against BJP Leader, Calls Udhay’s Remarks Hate Speech

The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday quashed a case filed in 2023 against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Malviya for allegedly distorting the comments made by Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin about “eradicating” Sanatana Dharma, The Hindu reported.

Justice S Srimathy said that Stalin’s statement amounted to hate speech.

Stalin had said at a press conference in September 2023 that Sanatana Dharma must be eradicated, and not merely opposed. “We can’t oppose dengue, mosquitoes, malaria or corona [Covid-19], we have to eradicate them,” the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader had said. “In the same way, we have to eradicate Sanatana [Dharma], rather than opposing it.”

While many understand the term Sanatana Dharma to mean Hinduism as a whole, others interpret it as a reference to the varna system and the propagation of caste supremacy.