-Adhvai Deepak Menon
If I were to delve into the depths of the anger I feel about the Anti-Sanatan Dharm conference, held barely a month ago, the article would serve more as a place to vent out feelings than to actually learn from the happenings around us. To understand the situation, it is essential we start with context.
What Constitutes a Word
All words originating from Bharat hold a particular meaning. Therefore, all words which distract us from the actual meaning, I have chosen to omit. Take the word ‘karma’. ‘Karma’ is not a word in Sanskrit, ‘karm’ is. Another simple example we can all relate to – Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, means ‘the sheltering of the anant (infinite consciousness)’. The word Trivandrum, which it was assigned with earlier, had no meaning.
Similarly, like all Bharatian words, Sanatan Dharm comes from the words Sanatan (translating roughly to eternal) and Dharm (a way of life). The reason it was named such is because none know when it was established, and one cannot foretell the end of it – hence eternal. The ideology of Sanatan Dharm, while an ancient concept, has a thorough understanding of the workings of the universe. The word Sanatan (eternal) has been used to describe practically everything there is. Modern science proves this with the basic law of science we know – matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed hence they are eternal. Therefore, Sanatan Dharm revolves around using the eternal energy around us to work for a higher good.
Sanatan Dharm in the Modern Day
The words Sanatan Dharm aren’t popularly used in the current scenario to describe one’s religious beliefs. Fundamentally, this arose due to the fact that Sanatan Dharm is not a religion, it was a way of life. To make this more digestible for Abrahamic religions, Sanatan Dharm falls under the umbrella-term we refer as ‘Hinduism’.
Dravidianism
I always like to say, “I’m not a South Indian; I’m an Indian, from the South”. If we observe, not even cautiously, we can see this distinct separation between South Indians and North Indians. But that aside, how did this bridge form? This isn’t a well-spoken fact, yet several missionaries coming from central Europe, with connections to the East India Company, started taking painstaking measures to dismantle the unity of Bharat like how one uses a screwdriver to unscrew the components of a toy. The year has no exact identity, yet historians boil it down to the 1800s when this occurred. The missionaries had one objective, sow distrust, and hence divide. This movement was called the Dravidian Movement. The missionaries found it difficult to bring distrust to the table, so they tried to convert people in order to create some separation. Another strategy they used was de-popularizing Sanatan Dharm. Scrolling to several years after independence, Dravidianism has become a practice that doesn’t occur via protests and guns anymore. It has been normalized via the pen and paper. Our story starts with the DMK, the party running the government in Tamil Nadu, and practices Dravidianism on pen and paper.
The Anti-Sanatan Dharm Conference
The Tamil Nadu Progressive Writer’s Association of Tamil Nadu planned, in early September, to host a conference regarding the demolition of Sanatan Dharm (the Anti-Sanatan Dharma conference). The conference lasted nearly twelve hours, which, if you do the math, is half a day. And this is when things get outrageous. The son of the Chief Minister, Udhayanidhi Stalin, made a speech. He said the following lines, which took India by storm. The statement translates from Tamil to, “Dengue, Malaria, fever, and Corona are few things that need to be eradicated. Likewise, Sanatan Dharma too must be eradicated.”
This is the statement given by a so-called “secular government”. With this statement, all the Hindus in Tamil Nadu have taken it upon themselves to see him humiliated. A trend has started where a picture of Mr. Stalin has been pasted near the entrance of temples. Before entering, everyone rubs their feet thoroughly on the image. So far no apology has been given regarding the statement, which brings even more controversy regarding the matter. What took me even more by surprise, was that the temple minister of Tamil Nadu was also present at the conference. My God! What the world has come to!
The Moral
Individual ignorance must not affect a community, as it has done here. Sanatan Dharm is too vast to digest, therefore, its eradication is impossible. What we can learn from this is that many will try, yet fail, at repressing some value or another. But as the law of karm always occurs, what we put out in the form of action, will reciprocate back.
The Echo 