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Stop politics over God: Tamil Nadu minister to BJP state president
Insisting that Vinayagar (Lord Ganesh) will fulfill the wishes of the devotees if pujas are performed at home, the minister said the government decided not to permit the immersion procession this time due to Coronavirus. He however warned that the state government will not remain a mute spectator if there were any violations.
Tamil Nadu minister Sekar Babu on Monday told off the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president K Annamalai to not do politics in the name of God, after the ruling government prohibited people from publicly celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi.
“I’m asking you not to put God in the forefront and make it political, unnecessarily create law and order issues and cause split among people who are living unitedly,” Babu, the minister for Tamil Nadu’s hindu religious and charitable endowments (HR & CE) told reporters on Monday. “All of us can pray to Vinayagar (Lord Ganesha) from our homes this year, and he will fulfil our wishes.”
Last week, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) cited the Covid-19 pandemic to prohibit people from installing Ganesh idols in public places and from carrying out processions or immersions, which is a huge affair particularly in Chennai, a coastal city. Annamalai had asked the state government to reconsider its decision. On Monday, he issued a statement saying that chief minister M K Stalin was insulting Tamil people by interfering in an individual’s rights. He urged people to send a postcard to Stalin asking him to wish the people of the state for the festival like he extended wishes for other religious festivals. He urged people to celebrate by placing their idols outside their homes, the same way in which the BJP cadre plans to do. A day ago, Annamalai insisted that the DMK is being stubborn. “We will keep one-lakh idols in front of our (BJP) homes. The government cannot prevent that,” Annamalai had told reporters on Sunday.
The BJP and right-wing affiliations such as the Hindu Munnani questioned the DMK’s decision of banning the religious procession when the state has opened up and allowed numerous relaxations. “While Tasmac liquor shops remain open in the state as the government claimed that Covid spread is curbed, the same government restricts the celebrations. Even with the rise of Covid cases in Maharashtra, its government allowed celebrations and idol processions,” Annamalai had said a week ago.
When a PIL, filed by Hindu Munnetra Kazhagam to lay down SOPs for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival celebration, came up in the Madras high court on Monday, the state submitted that they were abiding by a circular issued by the union government asking states to regulate crowds during the festival.
The same issue had played out last year between the BJP and their ally the AIADMK, which was governing the state and had banned processions due to the pandemic.
