By Admin 
Madhar Badruddin (VMS Mustafa), MLA of the ruling Tamil Nadu Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), created a controversy on Thursday by supporting the statement given by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sanatan Dharma. However, after all-round criticism he withdrew his statement.
Responding to this controversy, Tamil Nadu Minister Aadhav Arjun said that TVK is not against any religion, but opposes inequality.
Arjun said, “Udayanidhi Stalin has no knowledge of Sanatana Dharma. Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam is against the caste system and religious systems. We consider all religions equal. As a minister and under the leadership of our leader (Chief Minister Vijay), we respect all religions”.
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He said that TVK opposes the caste system, not Hinduism.
Arjun clarified, “We are not against Hindus, but against Hindutva. In the North, Sanatan Dharma is often understood as Hinduism, while in the South it is associated with inequality. We believe that all religions should be treated equally and we are not against any religion”.
He said that Udhayanidhi was also against the caste system.
Madurai Central MLA Badruddin had commented, “We are also in the field to destroy Sanatan Dharma”.
The TVK MLA, however, issued a clarification after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders criticized him and the Joseph C Vijay-led government.
BJP chief spokesperson Narayanan Tirupati alleged that a Muslim person, especially an elected representative, saying derogatory things about Hindu religion and announcing its abolition would seriously harm religious harmony.
Tirupathi asked in a post on ‘X’, “Will Mustafa, who criticizes Sanatan Dharma, dare to criticize the Islamic faith? Will he come forward to criticize Christianity?
The BJP leader said that the belief that one has the right to say anything just because one is in power shows arrogance.
He said, “Chief Minister Vijay has not yet condemned Udhayanidhi Stalin’s speech on Sanatan Dharma in the Assembly or the comments of TVK MLA Mustafa. For a Chief Minister who claims to represent all the people, it is not befitting his high position to not condemn criticism of the lifestyle of the majority community.
Tirupati said that Sanatan Dharma is “alive and eternal”. He said, “No one has destroyed or erased it in the past, nor is any person living today capable of doing so, nor will anyone born in the future be able to destroy it.”
Mustafa, when asked by reporters in Madurai on May 12 about TVK’s chances of winning the confidence motion in the assembly, had said that the party would be victorious.
When asked about Udhayanidhi Stalin’s comments regarding abolition of Sanatana Dharma, Mustafa said, “We in TVK are friends with Periyar E.V. Ramasamy and B.R. We follow the ideologies of Ambedkar, and we oppose Sanatan Dharma.
Mustafa clarified in a post on ‘X’ on Thursday that “we are not against any religion”.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Udhayanidhi Stalin, during his address in the Assembly on May 12, reiterated his earlier controversial statement that Sanatan Dharma should be abolished.
BJP leader Vinod P Selvam demanded that Vijay should sack Mustafa to prove that he stands for secular values.
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