INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KOLKATA: Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged citizens to respect all religions and keep trust
in the tenet of 'unity in diversity' in an attempt to distance herself and her party from DMK minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks on
"I have full respect for Tamil Nadu," Banerjee said on Monday
"Every religion has their separate sentiments
Let's not make any comments that may hurt the majority or minority of the population
India is a secular and democratic country and unity in diversity is in our origin."Stressing that Stalin's statement had nothing to do
with her ideology, Banerjee stressed she respected Sanatan Dharma
She pointed out that the state had a pension scheme for Hindu priests."I believe we shouldn't get involved in any matter that may hurt the
sentiments of any section of society
He (Stalin) is junior and maybe he has faltered
I came to know of his comment recently and can't speak from his perspective
My view is, they need to respect every religion," Banerjee added.Remark unfortunate, has no connection with INDIA bloc, says TMC Chief
minister Mamata Banerjee, elaborating on her 'unity in diversity' theme while distancing herself and her party from Udhayanidhi Stalin's
remarks on Sanatan Dharma, said Lord Balaji was popular in south India, while Siddhi Vinayak was popular in Maharashtra and Ma Durga was
She said India was home of people from different castes and religions.TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh called Stalin's statement "unfortunate"
and "undesirable", saying the INDIA bloc had no truck with Stalin's comments
"We want to make it very clear that the INDIA bloc has no connection with Stalin's comments
It doesn't matter whose son he is
We are looking at this as a stray comment which is unfortunate and undesirable and we strongly protest against the comment."Ghosh,
addressing the press, said: "Sanatan Dharma is very respectful
We believe in secularism and respect Hindus, Muslims and Christians
We believe in religious tolerance
This means we can choose to follow any religion we want and at the same time respect others for the religion they choose to follow
If anyone disrespects any religion, we believe it is wrong and we strongly condemn it."Ghosh added that it also remained to be seen whether
Stalin had made his comment "by mistake" or whether he had been misinterpreted
insulting Sanatan Dharma, rejects Mamata's advice to respect all religions
