Tamil Nadu HRCE minister has reportedly said that temple affairs shouldn’t be approached based on religion following the incident in which a Muslim classical dancer was stopped from going beyond the allowed point in Srirangam Ranganatha swamy temple. The dancer was confronted by a temple activist who told him that non-Hindus are not allowed after the certain point.
In Southern India most of the historical temples deny entry to non-Hindus beyond a point. They are not allowed to get darshan of the presiding deity in garbha griha even in temples under government control. A similar practice is followed in Srirangam Ranganatha swamy temple which is under HRCE control as well. Zakir Hussain(not the famous tabla player), a Bharatanatyam dancer frequents the temple and tried to do the same on December 10. However he was allegedly heckled by temple activist Rangarajan Narasimhan.
Zakir Hussain took to Facebook to narrate the incident and said that he was deeply hurt by this treatment. Later he posted pictures of him getting treatment in Rajiv Gandhi government hospital in Chennai as his health deteriorated due to the stress and humiliation caused by the incident. Hussain likes to identify himself as a “Vaishnavite by faith”. He is also a member of DMK and has sat in protest with Periyarists in front of Periyar statue.
For those who are not in the know, a statue of Periyar is intentionally placed in front of Srirangam temple with his quote “There is no god, there is no god, there is no god at all. He who invented god is a fool. He who propagates god is a scoundrel. He who worships god is a barbarian”. Despite admitting that he is a supporter of a party that denounces Hindu Dharma, vowed to uproot Hindu Dharma and wondered when they’d get the opportunity to demolish Chidambaram Nataraja and Srirangam Ranganatha swamy temples, he claims to be a devotee of Sriranganatha and Aandal.
What’s more, the HRCE minister whose job is to protect the rights of Hindu temples has ordered an inquiry into the issue and said that “temple affairs shouldn’t be approached based on religion”, Tamil daily Dinamalar reported. Perhaps he forgot the fact that he is the minister of “Hindu” Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. However Hindus were having none of it and exposed the so-called Vaishnavite’s true face and stood firm that non-Hindus shouldn’t be allowed inside temples.
Hussain had abused the Prime Minister calling him a buffalo and used the “gau mutra” jibe as well in one of his Facebook posts. Hussain says he was “humilated on the basis of his religion” even though he “believes in Vaishnavism”. If he believes in Vaishnavism he should have either converted to Sanatana Dharma or respect the boundaries of the religion. But it appears to be taqqiya as he has abused gau mata and used gau mutra jibe in many of his FB posts.
As if allowing non-Hindus, beef eaters at that, just because they are celebrities, is not enough, HRCE minister has ordered a probe into it and said it shouldn’t be approached based on religion. However the law says otherwise and so does the history. Srirangam temple was one of he most affected temples during mohammedian invasion. 20,000 Hindus died trying to protect the temple when Malik Kafur came to plunder it. Beheaded and mutilated murtis still stand proof of that.
Coming back to the current issue, Indic Collective and Temple Worshippers Society activist TR Ramesh noted that despite the DMK government’s efforts to give access to non-Hindus by amending Temple Entry Authorisation Act in 1970, the section which enabled the same was struck down by the Madras High Court. He also wondered what kind of “good decision” HRCE minister would make considering this past history. With incidents like this everyday, encouraging breaking of religious traditions, the DMK government seems to he hell bent on destroying Sanatana Dharma.
