A political storm broke out after NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MLA Jitendra Awhad was involved in making controversial statements against Sanatan Dharma, which invited severe criticism from opposition party leaders, particularly the BJP and JD-U.
His remarks were described as evidence of a "distorted mentality" and accused of instigating communal feelings for political mileage.
Indignantly responding, Madhya Pradesh Minister Inder Singh Parmar stated, "Only people with a crooked mindset can express such opinions. I think such individuals need to straighten their own thought process. It is due to Sanatan Dharma that they even exist as an entity today."
Awhad's statement, presented during a media interaction on Saturday, had caused outrage. He had stated, "Sanatan Dharma has devastated India. There was never ever a religion by the name Sanatan Dharma. We are adherents of Hindu Dharma."
Even BJP MLA Ram Kadam had critiqued the remarks, alleging the Sharad Pawar-led faction was distorting religious sentiments for vote bank politics.
"Sanatan Dharma is the one which preaches 'Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah'. We look upon the world as our family and serving humanity as the greatest. Doesn't the Sharad Pawar group realize this? They intentionally brand the saffron color as terrorism, which is absolutely fallacious and misleading. It is mere appeasement of a specific religious group," Kadam added.
JD-U's leader spokesperson Neeraj Kumar reflected similar disapproval and regretted the degeneration of political discourse into what he described as "intellectual toxicity."
I believe politics has reached the point where there is a climate of intellectual terror. I have just discovered today that Hinduism is now being specially defined as Sanatan Dharma. Who is the greatest intellectual authority for this? Politicians who preach sermons about religion need to leave politics and instead assume the official position of spiritual preachers," Kumar said.
Even in the face of increasing backlash, Dr. Awhad remained adamant on his words and upped the ante on social media platform X, writing, "Sanatan terrorism has to be accepted! Sanatan terrorism has not emerged now; it has been around since times immemorial."
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