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New Delhi: Tamil Nadu’s Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister (HR&CE), PK Sekharbabu has been a busy man of late.
Ever since the DMK government began its first assembly session in this term, Shekharbabu has initiated several measures related to temples, priests and Hinduism. Some were brought in even before the start of the session last month.
institute for Training Temple Administration, Free prasadamJewelery given as charity should be converted into bars of gold, all castes archaso (priests of all castes), substitute for archanais (Prayer) in Tamil as well as Sanskrit, cultivation of flower gardens in temple premises, monthly incentives to priests in around 13,000 temples, deployment of 10,000 security guards in temples across the state – these are among the measures initiated by the new DMK government. are from. first 100 days.
the government also announced Construction of Rs 100 crore commercial complex near Ekambareswarar Temple in Kancheepuram. In the state assembly, Shekharbabu explained that the commercial complex would generate money for the temple.
the government also on lease Published title documents for temples with less than 3.50 acres of temple land on rent, and is planning a drone and GPS survey to digitize every inch of temple property in the state.
ThePrint reached out to Shekharbabu for a comment via call and text but did not elicit a response till the time this report was published.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or DMK, as it is commonly called, traces its history to the anti-caste social movement Dravida Kazhagam (DK), founded by EV Ramasamy (Periyar), who fought against caste inequalities and was a staunch atheist. . Periyar once said, “He who created God is a fool, he who preaches God is a scoundrel, and he who worships God is a barbarian.” saidCriticizing the concept of religion.
While the DMK parted ways with Periyar over ideological differences, with Chief Minister and party president MK Stalin being a declared atheist, the party has often been accused of being anti-Hindu. His late father and former DMK chief M. Karunanidhi was also an atheist.
Now, whether the party is trying a more pragmatic approach or responding to the BJP’s religious politics, the DMK’s “temple politics” has attracted attention from all sides.
Some analysts believe that the party is feeling the need to re-establish itself in Hindu society, while others point to its long history of temple reforms. The opposition, however, has stuck to its allegation that the DMK is “anti-Hindu”, and is reportedly noting the history of its comments against Hinduism.
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DMK feels there is a need to re-establish itself in Hindu society
Ramu Manivannan, head of the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Madras, said that since the party’s inception in 1949, the DMK has always tried to project itself as separate from Periyar’s DK, and not as a staunch atheist.
“DMK has a large constituency of believers, so they cannot go overboard and reject the role of religion. Had to differentiate between Brahmanism and anti-God, the DMK has always focused on the former,” Manivannan said.
However, he acknowledged that in recent times, the DMK has had to “clarify its ties with Hinduism because of political competition”. This contest is with BJP, which recently Called The ruling DMK government “anti-Hindu” for banning Vinayaka Chaturthi (Ganesh Chaturthi) processions.
“This political competition is clearly coming from the BJP, which has been making its presence felt in the state for the last 10 years. The DMK now feels the need to re-establish the secular space within Hindu society unlike the BJP,” Manivannan explained.
However, political analyst, author and Karunanidhi’s biographer AS Panneerselvam said that while analyzing these reforms, the BJP should not be given so much credit. According to him, temple reforms had taken place even under the old DMK governments, but are now more visible due to “10 years of inaction by the AIADMK government”.
Paying attention to the reforms in the past, Panneerselvam said, Sarvajati archaso And the Tiruvarur temple chariot ceremony was implemented by Karunanidhi in the 1970s.
“What you are seeing right now is a continuation,” Panneerselvam said. He said for the DMK, faith is a matter of personal belief and it does not translate into how the state is governed.
“It was the difference between DK and DMK. DMK believed in one caste, one god (Ondre Kulam, Oruvane Devan). For him, inclusive growth is embedded in politics and he believes that social justice means that caste cannot be a barrier to entry in the field of faith,” he said.
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DMK still anti-Hindu party: BJP
The opposition, especially the BJP, does not buy this rhetoric.
Speaking to ThePrint, Tamil Nadu BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupati said that many of the measures introduced by the DMK government were already in practice in many temples in the state and were “not a new concept”.
According to him, all these measures still do not help the “anti-Hindu image” of the DMK. He pointed to examples from the past to justify this remark, including Karunanidhi Comment that “Hindu means thief” and when he “Insult Lord Rama was asking if he was an engineer”.
Pointing to Stalin, Tirupati recalled a convention in Tiruchirappalli before the election, where Stalin said he would To pull out from the bottom eternal religion.
“What is Sanatana Dharma? It is Hinduism,” said Thirupati.
He also pointed to another example from Tiruchirappalli in 2018, when Stalin wiped off NS Manjal Kappu (turmeric paste) offered by priests during their visit to a temple in the district.
Reforms no departure: DMK
Dismissing these claims, DMK Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva said that Karunanidhi was taking care of the temples even when he was alive.
“There is no departure. From the restoration of temple vehicles to the offering of holy water in the temples and the formation of the priestly board, by whom was all this done? Kalaignar (Karunanidhi). We are only taking it forward and reclaiming the temple properties,” explained Shiva.
Speaking about the current reforms, Siva explained that the idea of the DMK was to protect the temples and take care of the needs of all sections of the society.
“DMK is secular in nature and we want to open temples for all sections of the society. Our inclusive governance extends to this as well,” said the MP.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyay)
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