The Tamil Nadu HRCE minister has been accused of harassing the family of a man with whom his daughter is in love. The alleged victim has released videos in social media seeking TN CM MK.Stalin to help him marry the minister’s daughter. The minister had earlier announced that people of all castes will be appointed as temple pujaris regardless of the sampradaya followed in them.

Satish Kumar, a DMK member from marginalised socio-economic background, has put out some videos and pictures in social media. In those pictures Satish Kumar can be seen being close with the minister’s daughter, Jaya Kalyani. In the videos the man claims that both of them have been in a relationship for the past 6 years and that both the families know about it.

But HRCE minister Sekar Babu didn’t agree with their relationship and when they decided to run away to Mumbai, he tracked them back. TN police found their hiding place using their AADHAR data when they tried to book train tickets. They convinced them that they’ll help them get married and brought them to Chennai. Once they were in Chennai they separated them and Satish Kumar claims that the whereabouts of Jaya Kalyani are unknown since.

He claims that his family including womenfolk and children have been continuously harassed since then. He has accused TN police of beating his family members and threatening their house owner into evicting them. He has appealed to CM MK Stalin to preserve social justice by helping him find Jaya Kalyani and marry her.

Minister Sekar Babu had earlier announced that people of all castes will be appointed as pujaris in temples under HRCE control. Hindu Dharma, as a religion with diverse customs and traditions, doesn’t restrict anyone from becoming a pujari. However there are sampradayas and Agamas to be followed based on which temples were constructed. Disregarding such sampradayas Sekar Babu’s HRCE department had fired many elderly Brahmins from their priestly duties and appointed non-Brahmins as pujaris simply because the ruling party DMK is anti-Brahmin.

The minister also proposed to appoint women pujaris as a part of their government’s move to ensure social justice. As it is, HRCE taking over temples and lording over them indefinitely is illegal. While the minister wanted to ensure social justice in public institutions illegally kept under government control, he doesn’t like to ensure it when it comes to his daughter.

Many in social media have been pointing out this hypocrisy and have called upon the minister, CM MK Stalin and Dravidar Kazhagam to reunite Sathish Kumar and Jaya Kalyani and preserve social justice. DMK had promised to introduce a scheme in the name of late CM Karunanidhi’s mother, Anjugam, to give Rs.60,000 in cash and 8 grams of gold to incentivise inter-caste marriage between SC/STs and non-SC/STs. This was opposed by many as it would encourage marrying for money rather than love.

Earlier when an 18 year old Brahmin girl was groomed and married by an ADMK politician twice her age, DMK supporters and Dravidian organisations abused the Brahmin father for not respecting his daughter’s wishes. Now that one of their own faces a similar situation Dravidianists feel that personal issues shouldn’t be debated by the public. Dravidar Kazhagam has conducted many inter-caste marriages but are mum on this issue.

It is parents’ prerogative to choose or approve their children’s life partners. But feminists and Periyarists think it’s solely upto an individual to decide their marital relationship. While they encourage inter-caste marriages in the name of abolishing caste, most of the times it ends up destroying families like in the case of minister Sekar Babu. If the minister doesn’t like interference of others in his family affairs in the name of social justice, he could have thought twice before firing archakas who live and die to perform priestly duties inline with Agamas and sampradayas in the name of social justice.

(Featured Image Source: Twitter)

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