Political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla has criticized Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for his recent remarks on Sanatan Dharma, accusing leftist ideologues of harboring a “mental disease” of Sanatan Dharma phobia.
“There is a new mental disease that is spreading in India, called SDPI. This is not the PFI-SDPI. This is ‘Sanatan Dharma Phobia India’,” said Tehseen Poonawalla to media. He further claimed, “Most of the people who are affected by the SDPI (Sanatan Dharma Phobia India) are people with the leftist mindset.”
Poonawalla went on to assert that the Left’s relevance in India is diminishing, stating, “The Left is becoming increasingly irrelevant. They are relegated to the JNU canteen and Kerala. Very soon, Kerala will also be left, free from the left.”
Referring to recent events, Poonawalla questioned, “Hamas, which is addressing rallies in Kerala, that chief minister is talking about Sanatana Dharma not being aligned with democracy. Does this make any sense? That is why the people of India are fed up with this Leftist mindset.”
Pinarayi Vijayan’s Comments on Sanatan Dharma
Earlier, CM Pinarayi Vijayan addressed the Sivagiri Pilgrimage and criticized attempts to link Sree Narayana Guru, a revered social reformer, with Sanatan Dharma.
“Sanatana Dharma is synonymous with or inseparable from Varnashrama Dharma, which is based on the Chaturvarna system. What does this Varnashrama Dharma uphold? It glorifies hereditary professions. But what did Sree Narayana Guru do? He called for defiance of hereditary professions. How, then, can Guru be an advocate of Sanatana Dharma?” said Vijayan.
He added, “Guru’s ascetic life was a constant questioning and defiance of the Chaturvarna system. How can someone who proclaimed, ‘One Caste, One Religion, One God for humankind,’ be an advocate of Sanatana Dharma, which is rooted in the confines of a single religion? Guru championed a dharma that opposed the caste system.”