Hindu awakening to resolve Thiruparankundram issue: RSS chief
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat stated that the Thiruparankundram issue will favor Hindus, emphasizing local Hindu strength without immediate RSS intervention.
RSS sarsanghachalak (chief) Mohan Bhagwat has said that the burning issue of the lighting of a lamp in Thiruparankundram hill saying that it will resolve in the favour of Hindus but it doesn’t require the intervention of his organisation for now.
Bhagwat was speaking in Tamil Nadu’s Trichy at the “100 Years of Sangh Journey - New Horizons” when he was asked about the issue in Thiruparankundram in Madurai on Wednesday.
“The awakening of Hindus in Tamil Nadu is enough to bring about the desired result. But if at all our intervention is needed, Hindu organizations working in Tamil Nadu will let us know and we will think about it,” Bhagwat said. “If it needs escalation, it will be done. But I don’t think it is necessary. The matter is now sub judice. Let it resolve.”
The RSS chief was responding to a question from BJP leader H Raja if the issue should be taken up by the organisation at the national level. Raja had in February described the Thiruparankundram issue as the “Ayodhya of South”. This has now taken national spotlight after the INDIA bloc MPs have sought an impeachment against justice G R Swaminathan who delivered a controversial judgement for a lamp to be lit atop a pillar near a dargah on the Thiruparankundram hilltop.
“I think the issue can be resolved here only on the basis of the Hindus’ strength in Tamil Nadu,” the RSS chief said. ”But one thing is clear, the issue will be favourable for Hindus,” the RSS chief added.
The hill covers three religious structures -- the Subramaniya Swamy temple, Kasi Viswanathan temple, and Sikkander Badusha dargah. Justice Swaminathan permitted the petitioner, associated with the right wing, to be given protection to light the lamp on December 1 on a deepathoon (pillar), calling the ritual an integral part of Tamil culture. The state resisted the order citing law and order concerns.
On December 3, the justice quashed the Madurai Collector’s prohibitory order under Section 163 BNSS, calling it an “attempt to circumvent his order”. The same day, a Division Bench upheld his directions, describing the DMK government’s appeal as an “attempt to pre-empt contempt”. Tensions had escalated on the ground between right wing activists and the police near Thiruparankundram last week. Amid the row, the DMK government has moved the Supreme Court, seeking urgent hearing of its challenge to the high court’s directions.
