Cut The Clutter: Udhayanidhi & Sanatana Dharma: Periyar’s Dravidian atheism, rationalism & return of the gods in TN

Tamil Nadu minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of CM M.K. Stalin and grandson of late DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi, has ruffled quite a few feathers with his comment about ‘Sanatana Dharma’ — he likened it to diseases, and said it was something to be destroyed not opposed. The comment sent allies in the newly formed INDIA alliance scurrying to distance themselves from it. In Ep 1304 of Cut The Clutter, Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta takes a peek into history — at Periyar and his rationalist Dravidian movement — to explain how Tamil politics has been shaped by opposition to Sanatana Dharma, and how the tide may be turning.