Pinarayi Vijayan stands by ‘Sanatana Dharma’ comment as BJP steps up attack​on January 1, 2025 at 12:13 pm

Pinarayi Vijayan stands by ‘Sanatana Dharma’ comment as BJP steps up attack

​Pinarayi Vijayan stands by ‘Sanatana Dharma’ comment as BJP steps up attack Pinarayi Vijayan stands by ‘Sanatana Dharma’ comment as BJP steps up attack   

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan remained defiant about his comment on Sanatana Dharma which he made at the Sivagiri pilgrimage inauguration.

At a press conference called by the chief minister in Thiruvananthapuram, Pinarayi Vijayana said he would not change his statement. “I stand by what I said yesterday. They are trying to portray Sree Narayana Guru as a spokesperson of Sanatana Dharma. That is not right,” he reiterated.

He also responded to accusations by BJP that he was insulting Sanatana Dharma for vote-bank politics. “If it’s vote-bank politics, shouldn’t I be saying something else? What I said was ‘don’t try to make Sree Narayana Guru the spokesperson of Santana dharma’,” he stated.

The Kerala chief minister faced heavy criticism by the BJP leaders for his statements made at an event in connection with the Sivagiri pilgrimage in Varkala town, Thiruvananthapuram district.

The annual three-day Sivagiri pilgrimage began on December 30, and is an important festival for the followers of Sree Narayana Guru.

In his speech, he said: “Sanatana Dharma’s most important part is ‘Varnashrama dharma’ based on ‘chatur varnyam’. What has it upheld? Jobs based on one’s caste. But what has Sree Narayana guru done? He asked to defy the notion to do jobs based on one’s religion.”

Vijayan also said, “(Sree Narayana) Guru was not a spokesperson or practitioner of Sanatana Dharma. Rather, he was a monk who broke that dharma and proclaimed a new-age of ‘Dharma’ for the new era.” He was slamming the attempt to portray the social reformer as a proponent of Sanatana Dharma.

“Sometime ago, there was a BJP leader who said in an event that Sree Narayana Guru advocated Sanatana Dharma. I corrected him there itself. He (Guru) never was a spokesperson of Sanatana Dharma. You just have to check history to know it. It’s my stand,” the chief minister reiterated.