HC comes down on divisive ideas

NT Bureau, Agencies

Chennai: No one in India has a right to propagate divisive ideas and conduct meetings for the abolition of any ideology, the Madras high court said in an order last week.

It also held that the Tamil Nadu Police should have taken action against members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) who took part in the September 2 meeting titled ‘Sanatana Eradication Conclave’, where minister Udhayanidhi Stalin had likened sanatana dharma to dengue and malaria.

“[The] co-existence of multiple and different ideologies is the identity of this country,” the bench comprising Justice G. Jayachandran said in the order. It was hearing a writ petition by one Magesh Karthikeyan seeking directions to local police to grant permission for a “meeting about Dravidian ideology”.

Karthikeyan had suggested a Tamil title for his meeting which roughly translates to ‘Dravida Eradication and Tamilian Integration Conclave’.

He said he filed his petition in light of an earlier order passed by the high court, which directed police to permit a meeting whose conveners may have contrarian views on Dravidian ideology.