The Madras HC (High Court) passed a comment noting the temple festivals were limited to showing off power rather than devotion. The court made the remark while hearing a petition on 21 July moved by K Thangarasu who sought police protection for conducting the Sri Ruthra Maha Kaliyamman temple.
What did the Madras HC say?
The Madras HC stated that temple festivals have become platforms for certain groups to display their influence and strength. The court further emphasized that the essence of true devotion seems absent from these events.
“If temples are going to perpetuate violence, the existence of temples will have no meaning and in all such cases, it would be better to close down those temples so that the violence can be averted”, Live Law cited Justice Anand Venkatesh who was hearing the plea.
According to the legal site, the petitioner identified himself as the hereditary trustee of the temple and sought police protection to ensure the prevention of any untoward incidents during the festival.
As per Live Law’s report, the State informed the HC that an ongoing dispute existed between two groups regarding the organization of the festival. Despite efforts to resolve the matter through a “Peace Committee” meeting convened by the Tahsildar, no settlement could be reached. The dispute also extended to the matter of who would be responsible for installing a murti of Vinayagar inside the temple. The State further submitted that granting permission to hold the festival could potentially lead to law and order issues.
In response to the plea for police protection, the court decided against providing such protection. Instead, the court urged the involved parties to conduct the festival peacefully, avoiding any conflicts among themselves. However, the court also emphasized that the police should intervene promptly in case any untoward incidents occur during the festival.
The Madras HC judge had made a similar comment last year too. He said that it is a paradox that the closure of temples leads to peace. He was ‘anguished’ that courts are flooded with cases of ego clashes between two groups of Hindus and remarked that temples have become causes for law and order problems.
Justice Anand Venkatesh made these comments regarding a petition that sought protection to offer worship and conduct festivals at the Sri Madurai Veeran, Karupparayan and Kannimar temples at Kullur in Modakurichi Taluk of Erode district. The petition was filed in 2015 and when the judge wanted to know the current status during the hearing, he was told that clashes erupted again when efforts were made to conduct a festival.
The anti-Hindu bias of the Indian Judiciary
The judiciary be it the HCs or the Supreme Court (SC) has repeatedly targeted Hindu temples. The Madras HC has used a few factional disputes in some Mandirs to pass a blanket judgment on temples insinuating that they perpetrated violence and temple festivals were used to ‘display muscle power’. Using this logic shouldn’t courts call for shutting down all the mosques/masjids where stone-pelting takes place after Friday Jumma?
Hindu festivals and rituals have been attacked by both the HCs and the apex court. Tripura HC and Himachal HC banned Pashubali that have been a part of the Shakta tradition for centuries. The SC also banned the traditional jallikattu festival in Tamil Nadu.
Last August, the Supreme Court overturned the Karnataka HC order allowing the Ganesh Chaturthi festival celebration at a Bengaluru public ground which the Muslim Waqf Board claims is an ‘Idgah maidan’ owned by it. BBMP, however, says that the land belongs to the Revenue Department. On the other hand, the Madras HC directed a Hindu petitioner to obtain consent from the local jamaat before installing a Ganesh pandal.
Just a couple of instances when the judiciary passed anti-Hindu remarks are listed here but these highlight the deep-seated anti-Hindu bias of the judiciary.
