Reacting to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s alleged remarks against Sanatan Dharma, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shehzad Poonawalla on January 2 called it a “disrespect” to Sanatan Dharma. He further added that CM Vijayan has done it deliberately to appease the Muslim community in order to consolidate the vote bank.
“… First he disrespected Sanatan and now he is defending his statement. This is a well-thought-out way to utilise the Muslim vote bank… He is disrespecting Sanatan Dharma to appease the Muslims and compete for their vote bank,” said the BJP leader while speaking to ANI.
Many other BJP party leaders have come forward and condemned CM Vijayan’s statement on Sanatan Dharma. 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.
BJP Chittorgarh MP CP Joshi stated that Congress and its allies have been targeting Hinduism for a long time. Sometimes they abuse Hinduism, calling 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.
On December 31, Vijayan, while addressing the Sivagiri Pilgrimage, stated that attempts to portray social reformer and saint Sree Narayana Guru as a proponent of Sanatana Dharma are nothing but the practice of caste-based Varnashrama Dharma.
“Sanatana Dharma is synonymous with or inseparable from 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?” the Kerala CM said.
“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.
(With inputs from ANI)
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