TN minister accuses BJP of attempting to stoke violence over Thiruparankundram issue
Madurai district collector MS Sangeetha said in a statement on Wednesday that while the residents are living in harmony, “outsiders” from both sides are creating trouble in the matter
Tamil Nadu’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments minister Sekar Babu on Wednesday took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after protests erupted at Thiruparankundram in Madurai district, and alleged that the BJP was trying to stoke riots like it does in other states, but it will not work in Tamil Nadu.
“The BJP’s tactics of dividing people on communal and caste lines might work in north India, but not in Tamil Nadu,” the minister told reporters. “There is no place for such communal politics in the Dravidian land and Periyar land. The BJP wants to divide people in the name of religion, caste and language,” he added.
The BJP’s aim was nothing but to “communalise the incident” and the speeches of party leaders deride a particular community, he added. “I warn the BJP that it will be alienated by the people of Tamil Nadu if it continues with its communal politics,” Babu said. “It will be taught a big lesson by the people in the 2026 elections…the chief minister has asked us to show restraint. Our chief minister will crush any attempt to divide the society,” he added.
Tension has been brewing between the wing organisations such as the Hindu Munnani and a section of Muslim outfits over a hillock, which is one of the abodes of deity Lord Murugan as well as has a dargah on top. The minister said that the department will ensure that the centuries-old customs, rituals, and festivals are followed in the temple. The dargah has been standing atop the hill, where the temple is located, for the last 600 years. The minister accused the BJP of creating a “dangerous situation” for the DMK government and termed the protest as “unwanted.”
Members of the Hindu Munnani and BJP held a protest outside the famous temple in Thiruparankundram, 5 km from Madurai, on Tuesday against a few people, who reportedly belonged to the Muslim community, for consuming meat at the hillock and also to press for the demand of some organisations to rename the hill as Sikkandar Malai. The Madurai Bench of the Madras high court intervened and allowed the protesters to hold an agitation at Palanganatham junction, far away from the temple premises.
Way back in 1923, a subordinate judge of Madurai had settled this issue saying that the whole hill, except “certain cultivated and assessed lands and the site of the mosque” belonged to the Murugan Temple.
“Let’s forget who is protesting for now and I only want to tell minister Sekar Babu to go through records of Thiruparankundram pre-independance,” said BJP state president K Annamalai in response. “The 1923 judgment is very clear that the place belongs to the temple. Now, who created the problem in Thiruparankundram? Who allowed Muslim groups to go up, carry goats with them to slaughter it?”
Madurai district collector MS Sangeetha said in a statement on Wednesday that while the residents are living in harmony, “outsiders” from both sides are creating trouble in the matter. “All efforts are being taken to ensure that public order is maintained,” the collector said.
This is the second attempt by the BJP in five years to take up Lord Murugan. In 2020, the party organised Vetrivel Yatra across the state following a controversy over comments against Kanda Shashti Kavasam, a collection of hymns in praise of the god, by Karuppar Kootam, a YouTube channel.
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