In Tamil Nadu, a Hindu temple festival was held off for three years by Christians who wanted to ‘organize’ the festival along with Hindus. The festival was celebrated after the court said that Christians could not meddle in temple affairs and directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department to organize the festival with villagers.
Ramamurthi, a native of Mugizhthagam in Ramanathapuram district, filed a petition on the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court alleging that Christians in his village were obstructing the temple festival. His petition read, “Across the state, Hindus have been offering worship and managing Hindu temples. It should be the Hindus of our village managing the Ezhu Thareeramudaya Ayyanar and Kali temple on our own. However, some Christians in our village intrude in temple management”.
“They obstruct the annual festivals of these two temples being conducted peacefully. There have been issues in organizing the festival this year as well. A peace meeting was conducted led by the Tehsildar to solve the issue. As no consensus was reached, an order was issued to stop the festival. This turn of events has greatly distressed devotees”.
Narrating the ordeal of Hindus being denied even fundamental rights, the petition sought the court to cancel the Tehsildar’s order and allow Hindus to conduct the festival as usual. It also requested the court to order that Christians should not get involved. Justice Srimathi, who heard the petition, banned Christians from meddling in the temple festival and directed HRCE to help Hindus celebrate the festival.
The judge observed that “Christians living in the petitioner’s village worship Christ as their god; celebrate Christian festivals. But meddle in temple management, the petitioner has alleged. The court bans Christians from intruding in Hindu temple affairs till the next order. HRCE Assistant Commissioner and the petitioner should take necessary steps to celebrate the festival”.
The judge directed the District Collector, Superintendent of Police, Tehsildar, and HRCE officials to file an affidavit and deferred the matter to September 1. Following the court order, the festival was celebrated with police protection. It is well known that Christians use such tricks to harass Hindus and lure them to convert and increase their flock. There have been many incidents where allegations were made that political parties and NGOs were using crypto Christians to allege discrimination and derail temple festivals.
A few months ago, in a similar incident from Thanjavur, Hindus accused a Christian man of obstructing the consecration of a temple. The Christian man alleging that the temple committee didn’t collect money from his caste people claimed that not letting them take part in organizing the consecration ceremony was caste discrimination. He lodged a police complaint with the help of SC Hindus(unclear if they were cryptos) alleging caste discrimination and stopped preparations for the consecration ceremony.
There have been many incidents of anti-Hindus exploiting the fault lines between different jatis of a neighborhood to claim victimhood and shut down or take over temples. A temple near Madurai was taken over by HRCE and closed after two groups disagreed about the traditions followed in the temple. After an 11-year-long legal battle, the temple was recently opened for public worship following a court order. As the ‘secular’ state’s representatives, rather than helping people find a solution, HRCE officials only further the differences and disagreements. As a result, many temples are lying abandoned without puja and worship.
In the current issue, government officials didn’t act neutral even though Christians, who have no right in the temple, are directly involved. With the state and its representatives trampling Hindu rights in the name of secularism, even a fundamental right, such as celebrating a festival, has become difficult for Hindus.
