Raja, Kharge face court over Sanatan Dharma remarks

A petition has been filed before the Muzaffarpur court on Friday accusing DMK MP A Raja and Congress leader and Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge of hurting Hindu sentiments.
The petition was lodged by local resident and lawyer Sudhir Kumar Ojha, who recently filed a similar complaint against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and his son and minister Udayanidhi.
In his petition, Ojha criticised the statements of Raja and Kharge, who supported controversial remarks about “Sanatan Dharma,” a term often used to denote the Hindu faith, made by Udayanidhi.
The petitioner is seeking a trial of Raja and Kharge under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The court has scheduled the next hearing for September 16.
Udhayanidhi Stalin, the DMK youth wing secretary and Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister, sparked outrage with his remarks urging the elimination of “Sanatana Dharma,” which he likened to diseases such as “mosquitoes, Dengue, Malaria, fever, and Corona.”
Reacting to the backlash, Udhayanidhi clarified on X (previously Twitter) that he was not advocating for the genocide of Sanatan Dharma followers. Instead, he emphasised that Sanatan Dharma fosters division based on caste and religion, and eradicating it would promote human equality.
Meanwhile, A. Raja, during a protest meeting against the central government’s Vishwakarma Yojana in Chennai, claimed that Udhayanidhi’s views on ‘Sanatana Dharma’ were relatively mild, comparing Sanatana Dharma to diseases like leprosy and HIV that carry social stigma.