‘Riots embedded in the thinking of some parties’: Stalin slams BJP over Deepam row

Castigating the BJP for allegedly attempting to create tension in society over a non issue, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Sunday charged the saffron party with having riots embedded in its thinking to prevent development and growth.

“It is nothing but cheap and mean politics. While we are always concerned about the development and progress of Tamil Nadu, some parties have riots embedded in their thinking. By orchestrating non-issues and attempting to bring them to the fore, they are placing hurdles on the path of development,” he said, speaking at a government function held to inaugurate completed projects and lay the foundation for new ones at Madurai. The chief minister though didn’t name the BJP, his reference to the Deepam row at the famed Thiruparankundram Murugan temple in the temple city orchestrated by the BJP and the Sangh Parivar left no doubt who he meant.

Advertisement

Even though the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench), ordering lighting of the Deepam at the stone pillar, close to the Sikkandar dargah atop the hillock, also said to be a survey stone of the British era, the temple authorities lighted it at lamp post at the Uchi Pillayar temple in the hillock right above the sanctum sanctorum of the rock-cut temple below. Justifying the government decision, Stalin said, “Adhering to tradition, deepam was lit at the usual place where for years it was lit, on December 3, followed by the traditional bonfire of palm fronds, called ‘sokka panai’, at the temple mantap by the temple administration. Devotees and the locals had darshan and have no issue in this as they are very aware of the tradition. But now a group is bent upon creating a problem and people know why they are doing it,” he said.

“Spirituality can’t be a conspiracy to divide society and create polarisation for the political mileage of a few. If so, it is cheap and despicable politics. For, spirituality should unite people by enabling them to have peace of mind and tranquility. Being beneficial should be the function of true spirituality,” he said, blaming the BJP and making it clear that deepam had been lit when and where it should be in a proper manner. To counter the campaign that the DMK is anti-Hindu, he pointed out that the present DMK government had carried out consecretation of more than 3,000 temples across the state.

In a veiled reference to the Madras High Court order on lighting deepam at the pillar close to the 14th century dargah of a Sufi saint, Stalin said Madrai is the land of Kannagi, the female protagonist of the celebrated Sangam era Tamil epic Silappadikaram, who challenged the Pandya king on whose order her husband, Kovalan, was beheaded on a trumped charge of theft. Also, late Dravidian patriarch and former chief minister M Karunanidhi had launched a padayatra from Madurai to the famed temple town of Tiruchendur, seeking justice for the missing spear of Lord Mururgan, he recalled.

Reposing faith in the people of Madurai, a city of communal harmony where people of all religions remain as brothers and cousins, the chief minister asserted, “Since I am there, your designs and conspiracies will not succeed. In our Tamil Nadu, only the deepam of equality lit by Periyar (Dravidian icon E V Ramasamy) will shine. With the fire lit by Periyar, we are there to challenge you.”