Respond to Sanatan Dharma rant: PM Modi to ministers

New Delhi, September 6

Days after DMK scion Udhayanidhi Stalin compared Sanatan Dharma with diseases that warranted eradication, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday directed Union Ministers to mount a strong and appropriate response to the rant.

“These condemnable and offensive remarks require a proper response,” the PM said to ministers at the Union Council of Ministers’ meeting on Wednesday where the PM also told his colleagues to avoid VIP frills during the G20 summit and assemble in the Parliament complex every day to use the shuttle service to reach the summit venue, Bharat Mandapam. At the meeting, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra made a presentation on India’s G20 summit presidency.

All ministers were also advised to download the G20 app, which will be in operation till the summit conclusion on September 10. The app offers an instant translation feature incorporating all Indian languages and that of the G20 nations.

On Sanatan Dharma, the PM made his mind known, signalling that the BJP would take the issue across the country in this election year. The Congress has taken a safe stand on the issue saying it respected all religions and also that everyone had the freedom of expression. AAP and the TMC have expressly disapproved of Stalin’s remarks.

Stalin, Priyank booked

An FIR was lodged in UP’s Rampur on Wednesday against DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge for allegedly outraging religious feelings.

RSS body for Bharat in curricula

Communication chief of RSS’ education body Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas Atul Kothari, in a statement on Wednesday, urged the government to replace India with Bharat in the entire syllabi from the school to the university level and rename all institutes of national importance such as the IITs, IIMs and universities after Bharat.