New Delhi, 21 Jan

The BJP on Wednesday slammed the DMK after the Madras High Court quashed an FIR against party leader Amit Malviya for "distorting" the comments of Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on 'Sanatana Dharma', and demanded that he be removed from his post and a case be filed against him.

The Madras High Court on Tuesday quashed the FIR registered in 2023 by Tiruchi city police against Malviya for "distorting the comments" of Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sanatana Dharma, observing that the Deputy Chief Minister's remarks amounted to "hate speech".

"Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone triumphs)," BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla told a conference here at the party headquarters, reacting to the high court's order in the matter.

Poonwalla alleged that the DMK government had got an FIR registered against Malviya, who is also the BJP's IT department in-charge, only to "push and penalise" him for speaking out the truth in a post on X following Udayanidhi Stalin's remarks

"After the high court's reprimand, there is no justification for Udayanidhi Stalin to remain in his position. He should be immediately removed (from Deputy CM post) and a case should be filed against him for what has been called as hate speech against 80 per cent of the population of this country, that is Hindu community," the BJP spokesperson said.

Udayanidhi, son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, had kicked up a political row by stating that 'Sanatan Dharma' is against equality and social justice, and that it should be eradicated.

He had also likened 'Sanatan Dharma' to coronavirus, malaria, and fever caused by the dengue virus and mosquito, and said such things should not be opposed but destroyed.

Reacting to Udayanidhi Stalin's comments, Malviya had lambasted the DMK leader, accusing him of calling for the genocide of 80 per cent of people who follow Sanatan Dharma.

The Tamil police then filed an FIR under various sections of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the BJP leader.