CHENNAI: Welcoming Minister C T R Nirmal Kumar’s recent remarks on the Thiruparankundram deepam issue, parties like the CPI, CPM and the Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) on Sunday urged the TVK-led government to not give in to “pressure from communal forces”.
On Saturday, Minister and Thiruparankundram MLA Kumar had told media persons in Madurai that the practice followed for several years in connection with the lighting of the lamp during Karthigai Deepam in Thiruparankundram would continue and that the government would not allow communal forces to exploit the matter for political gains.
Welcoming the remarks, CPI state secretary M Veerapandian in a statement on Sunday said the government had taken the correct stand on the matter in the past and urged it to continue to follow the same.
Referring to the recent direction of the Madurai Bench of the Madras HC to the state government to clarify its stand before June 22, the CPI leader said the government should maintain law and order, and uphold secular values and communal harmony without giving in to communal forces.