A DMK ally politician has been booked for demolishing a temple in Tamil Nadu. The man had encroached on the land around the temple and wanted to grab the whole property. He sent some men to demolish the temple in the middle of the night.
Sinthamani, district secretary of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a DMK ally, was booked along with 4 others for demolishing a temple under the control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board. The Ganesha temple is located near the parking lot of the Cheyyar bus stand in Tiruvannamalai district. The temple was in a dilapidated state and the VCK functionary encroached on the land belonging to the temple.
He reportedly planned to grab the whole property and wanted the temple removed. He employed 4 men for this purpose. Hindu Munnani activists were informed of his intentions and they caught the thugs when they were demolishing the temple in the middle of the night on January 18. Activists informed the police, and the HRCE official in charge of the temple filed a complaint.
Encroacher Sinthamani and Bhaskar, Nehru, Sarath Kumar and Manikandan, who were caught in the act of demolishing the temple, have been booked by the police. While the other 4 have been arrested, Sinthamani is absconding. VCK chief Thol.Thirumavalavan has been advocating the demolition of prominent Hindu temples claiming they were originally Buddhist shrines. Now one of his followers seems to have fulfilled his wishes.
Thirumavalavan is a rabid anti-Hindu and a repeat abuser of Hindu beliefs. So-called ‘dalit’ activists and VCK party men were jubilant when the Madras High Court ruled that a Hindu deity’s murti was a Buddha statue and called for ‘reclaiming’ all Hindu temples from brahminical control.
Recently, a temple worker was hacked to death by drunk thugs for asking them not to consume alcohol on temple premises. TN BJP President K Annamalai had criticised the HRCE minister for being only money minded and serving only the first family of DMK, neglecting the protection and preservation of temples.
The temple demolition incident shows how negligent the department is. They not only allowed the temple property to be encroached upon but let the man erase even the temple’s existence. If not for Hindu activists, the incident might not have come out. Such incidents further strengthen the cause for freeing temples from government control.
