The DMK government’s School Education minister has said that the mention of Sanatana Dharma in school textbooks will be removed soon. This move comes after many pointed out that the textbook says Sanatana and Hindu Dharma are one and the same following Udayanidhi Stalin’s call to “eradicate Sanatana”. Dravidar Kazhagam had earlier demanded that the part mentioning Sanatana should be removed as it is against “scientific temper.”
After Udayanidhi Stalin’s speech in a Dravidian event calling for “eradicating Sanatana” went viral on social media, he made many attempts to tone down the seriousness of his remarks. At first, he said that he didn’t call for the genocide of people who are following Sanatan Dharma. Then he claimed that he included all religions in his speech. Attempts were made to spin his remarks as Dravidiansits on social media claimed that Sanatana Dharma and Hindu Dharma are different.
Thiru Udhayanidhi Stalin & Thiru Sekar Babu claimed that Hinduism & Sanatana Dharma are different after receiving condemnation from all quarters for their call to eradicate Sanatana Dharma.
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) September 12, 2023
The Class 12 textbook released by TN Govt says that Sanatana Dharma & Hinduism are the… pic.twitter.com/cbVGDixJMg
At that time, many shared a 12th standard textbook published by the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation in which it was mentioned that “Sanatana Dharma and Hinduism are one and the same”. BJP TN President K Annamalai also shared it and questioned Udayanidhi’s and HRCE Mminister Sekar babu’s stance. This greatly upset Dravidianists, who had been fooling Tamils that Sanatana is a different religion and they were not attacking Hindu Dharma and Hindus by calling for the former’s eradication. Many Dravidianists on social media demanded the DMK government remove the specific content from the textbook.
Dravidar Kazhagam supremo K Veeramani made the same demand saying, “It was a result of an unclear thought process of the previous regime. Unnecessary things should be found based on rationality and removed. One of the basic duties of the Indian constitution is to spread the scientific temper. As this is an obstacle to spreading the scientific temper, it should be removed”. It is widely speculated that Dravidar Kazhagam leaders like K Veeramani and Suba Veerapandian had a greater impact on CM Stalin and his son’s thought process than the late M Karunanidhi and influenced policy decisions of the government as well.
It appears to be true as the School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh has assured that the part that speaks about Sanatana Dharma and Hindu Dharma is the same and will be removed from textbooks in the next academic year. The same content also mentions, “Sanatana is a Dharma. There is no discrimination in Varnashrama,” which is the exact opposite of what Udayanidhi said about Sanatana Dharma. As per a Hindu Tamil report, ‘social activists’ took exception to this and sought the minister to remove it. They claimed that it was a change brought about in 2018 by the then AIADMK regime.
The same report says that the minister took cognizance of it and said, “The part about Sanatana is found in the textbook printed in 2018. As the syllabus is changed every five years, textbooks will be altered next year. We have appointed a committee to look into the issue.” DMK wields the field of education as a potent weapon to further its ideology. Dravidian outfits often distribute anti-Hindu and Periyarist materials in schools and colleges to influence young minds.
Earlier this month, DMK had tried to push anti-Hindu propaganda among college students by organizing a competition on the topic of ‘Opposing Santana’. It was canceled after strong opposition from Hindu outfits. If leaders remember, the Congress government in Karnataka also did the same by assuring to ‘revise’ textbooks as soon as it assumed power.
While the BJP government has been meandering about in reviewing textbooks and curriculum, which was formed by the anti-Hindu Liberal intelligentsia, the opposition has no qualms about it. They would go so far as to erase the truth to keep the masses uninformed, all the while accusing others of being fascists and curbing free speech.
