NEW DELHI: Even as the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Friday said it would hear all appeals in the Thiruparankundram Karthigai Deepam case on December 12, the issue triggered an acrimonious exchange between BJP and DMK members in the Lok Sabha. The ruckus began during the Zero Hour after senior DMK leader TR Baalu raised concerns over the verdict by the high court.
The HC judge had allowed petitioners to light the lamp on a stone pillar, ‘Deepathoon’, on the Thiruparankundram hill against the century-old custom followed by Tamil Nadu’s HR&CE department. The state government had defied the December 1 order of Justice GR Swaminathan, apprehending communal tensions in the state. The SC on Friday agreed to hear the state’s appeal challenging the HC’s order.
Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, Baalu accused the BJP of trying to ‘ignite’ communal tension in Tamil Nadu and claimed that the judge belongs to a particular ideology. “Who should light the deepam on the hill? Whether the Hindu Religious Endowment Board representative or some miscreants who have got a judgment from a Madras HC judge?” he asked.
Taking exception to Baalu’s reference to the judge’s ideology, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the DMK leader cannot cast aspersions on the judiciary and urged the chair to expunge the remarks. “In the history of our Parliamentary democracy, we have upheld the discipline of avoiding disparaging remarks,” Rijiju said.
TN targeting a particular community: Union minister
“We are not opposed to what he wants to express, but he cannot use unparliamentary language. This will lead to unnecessary trouble – not only for you, but for your party as well,” Rijiju added. While Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the chair, allowed Union Minister L Murugan from the treasury benches to intervene and reply, opposition members rose in protest against the decision.
Murugan accused the state government of denying devotees the right to worship at the Arulmighu Subramaniya Swamy Temple. “The state government is targeting a particular community and law and order of that region is being vitiated,” he alleged.
He claimed TN police had arrested devotees, who were proceeding to the temple to light the deepam as per the HC orders. “The TN BJP president too has been arrested,” he said. As he was speaking, some DMK members walked up to Rijiju’s seat, prompting the chair to ask the protesting members to confine themselves to the Well.
Although the chair said Baalu’s remark would be removed from the record, the latter argued that the judge had “himself acknowledged an association with the organisation”.
DMK’s parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi, who spoke to the media later, condemned Rijiju for the “intimidating tone” he had used against Baalu.
Blaming Murugan for providing false information on the issue during the Zero Hour, she said unnecessary problems were being created by the BJP in Thiruparankundram to infuse communal hatred among the people when people have offered prayers at the temple in the hill in harmony for long. She said that manufacturing such issues will not help the BJP since the Tamil people know who is working in their interests and who is creating differences.
Meanwhile, normalcy began to return to Thiruparankundram on Friday even as heavy police deployment continued across the foothills and the hilltop, restricting access to the summit. Police are expected to continue high-alert deployment until clarity emerges on the issue.
