 "Udayanidhi Stalin should be arrested: Sushil Modi on Sanatan Dharma remarks")
Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Sunday dubbed as "treason" the remarks on Sanatan Dharma' made by Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader Udayanidhi Stalin and demanded his arrest.
The Rajya Sabha MP also asked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad to clarify their stand on the issue, given their affinity with the DMK.
"Udayanidhi Stalin should be arrested and sent to jail for having compared Sanatana Dharma to ailments like dengue and malaria, the former Bihar Deputy CM told reporters here.
"The statement amounts to treason (deshdroh') since Stalin did not advocate eradication of the ills plaguing the faith, but called for rooting out the faith itself. The DMK has historically been associated with this type of politics, alleged Sushil Modi.
Stalin, whose father M K Stalin is the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and heads the DMK, made the remarks on Saturday when he was addressing a writers' and artists' meet.
Sushil Modi also questioned the "silence of Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad and (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi", all prominent figures of the newly formed coalition INDIA, of which the DMK is also a part.
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The BJP leader alleged that the Mahagathbandhan' government in Bihar has been displaying a "similar anti-Hindu stance".
"Take the example of the change in holiday list of schools. They have decided to keep schools open on many Hindu festivals... but did not have the guts to do so on Chehallum' or Prophet Mohammed's birthday. People are angry. No students turned up at schools on Raksha Bandhan, he claimed.
Sushil Modi's party colleague Giriraj Singh, a minister in the Union cabinet, said in his Lok Sabha constituency Begusarai that "the DMK leader's statement poses a challenge to Hindus who must unite, rising above caste lines, and defeat anti-Hindu INDIA (bloc)".
Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan also lashed out at the DMK leader for the controversial remark.
Talking to reporters in Nalanda district, he said, "I want to know whether Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad condone the divisive politics of their alliance partner from Tamil Nadu".
Paswan's uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, a Union minister who has burnt bridges with the nephew, however, refused to join issue with the opposition on the matter.
"The statement may be a reflection on DMK's ideology. We do not ascribe to the view, Paras said in Samastipur, stopping short of the outrage expressed by other NDA partners.