Anti-Hindu Comments of Minister Stoke Hinduphobia/Genocide

 Anti-Hindu Comments of Minister U. Stalin Stoke Hinduphobia/Genocide

The incendiary statement made by Minister Udayanidhi Stalin, Minister of Tamil Nadu State Sports and Youth Affairs at a public meeting of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Forum is highly concerning for the Hindu community in India in particular and the global Hindu community in general. In the speech delivered on Saturday, the Minister was seen using highly derogatory terms to describe Hinduism, also known as, Sanatana dharma calling for its eradication. He said, "Sanatana Dharma is like mosquitoes, malaria, dengue, and corona, it should be eradicated like a disease." This statement coming from a minister holding a responsible public position in the government of Tamil Nadu after taking oath on the Constitution of India is highly irresponsible. For his part, the minister remains unapologetic supposing that his calls for the 'eradication of Sanatana like a disease' do not incite genocide. However, genocides begin with blaming a group of people for their practices before finally isolating them for assaults. His direct calls to eradicate the religion bring the practitioners of that religion under attack, which is akin to calling for the genocide of Hindus/Sanatanis.

The minister remains nonchalant and hasn't made any efforts to release an official statement of apology. As minister of the Tamil Nadu government, he remains liable for conspiracy against Hindus/Sanatanis which is a punishable crime under the Constitution of India, which provides Freedom of Religion to all its citizens and gives equal rights to all its citizens to practice their religion without fear of attacks. The minister's answer supporting his statement was not satisfactory. As an explanation Mr. U Stalin said, he only called for the "eradication of the religion of Sanatana like a disease... and not the people." This is even more dangerous and cannot be condoned. Calling any religion as evil is prohibited under the Constitution of India. Calling a religion a disease will spread misconceptions and subject the practitioners of that religion to direct and indirect attacks. This has been proven by history. 

It is especially concerning that there is a fearful atmosphere for Hindus due to activities of anti-India elements attacking Hindus through name-calling and more across the world. AntiHIndu violence and attacks are rising across the world. In this atmosphere, it is highly objectionable for a minister of a state to speak such derogatory terms in his statements at a public forum. 

I conduct research on Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu elements in the academia and public sphere. The nature of Hinduphobia, which is spread as an undercurrent of public discussions is derived from colonialist theoretical constructions. Its recent spread is alarming. Theoretical constructions such as Aryan invasion/migration and caste constructions are weaponized to implicate Hinduism and Hindus as innately evil. Minister U. Stalin's statement should be understood in this context. Please check the article on Global Hinduphobia to gain an understanding of the threat his statement poses to the practitioners of Hinduism:  here: https://www.academia.edu/90219272/GLOBAL_HINDUPHOBIA_CONSTRUED_CONSTRUCTED_AND_UNLEASHED_FROM_THE_WEST

It's an anomaly that Hindus are asked to justify their faith in official and unofficial attacks like this one. Genocides always begin with identifying one group of people by blaming their practices, for example, faith, food, and clothing, as evil. The progressive attacks and isolation of a group of people are notable in the context of Tamil Nadu's history. In the not-too-remote past, a small group of Hindus has been attacked for their faith, food, and clothing. Goeblesian propaganda discusses this type of tactic (Vemsani 2022: 19-20) to isolate and attack a group of people which was successfully used during World War II subjecting 6 million Jews and 500 Roma to isolation and genocide. 

Anti-Hindu statements and activities do not remain limited to one region or group of people. Statements made by well-known personalities and people of high positions remain entrenched in public memory and are carried forward and spread widely. The impact of the statement given by Minister U. Stalin to the audience at a meeting of the Progressive Writer's Forum cannot be underestimated. 

The minister's statement certainly represents an alarming trend and the criminal intent of this statement cannot be ignored. This is a direct call for genocide of Hindus. Minister U. Stalin must be asked to resign immediately and stand trial for riling up his followers to go against another religion and its followers.