Lawyer Files Complaint against DMK Minister Andimuthu Raja for Comparing ‘Sanatan Dharma’ to HIV

Supreme Court Advocate Vineet Jindal filed a complaint with the Delhi Police against DMK Minister Andimuthu Raja for his statement against Sanatan Dharma.

In the complaint, Advocate Jindal accused A. Raja of making derogatory, provocative, inflammatory, and inciting statements against Sanatan Dharma, likening it to diseases like HIV and Leprosy.

Talking to Legally Speaking, Advocate Jindal said, “I am filing this complaint against A Raja, DMK leader, for his derogatory, provocative, inflammatory, and inciting statement against Sanatan Dharam. On 07.09.23, I saw a video statement of A Raja on a news channel in which he said, ‘Udhayanidhi Stalin is soft when comparing Sanatan Dharma to dengue and corona, but Sanatan Dharma to diseases that carry social stigma such as HIV AND LEPROSY.”

The complaint against DMK General Deputy Secretary was filed under Sections 153A & B, 295A, 298, and 505 of the I.P.C. for his act of outraging religious feelings, insulting Sanatan Dharma, and instigating enmity between different groups based on religion.

The controversy arose when A. Raja made remarks during a protest meeting against the central government’s Vishwakarma Yojana in Chennai on Wednesday. He stated that Udhayanidhi’s views on ‘Sanatana Dharma’ were relatively mild.

“Sanatana and Vishwakarma schemes are not different. Udhayanidhi gently said that Santana Dharma should be eliminated like malaria and dengue. But these diseases don’t have a social stigma. To be honest, leprosy was seen as disgusting, and so was HIV. So, we need to see this as diseases ridden with social plights like HIV and leprosy,” the DMK Minister remarked.