Nirmala alleges ban in Tamil Nadu on poojas in the name of Ram; Govt denies

Sitharaman posted a series of tweets on X platform with a newspaper clipping that screamed ‘Ban’ alleging that the DMK dispensation has banned watching live telecasts of the Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22.

Chennai: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday alleged that special poojas and mass feeding programmes in the name of Lord Ram on Monday have been “banned” in temples in Tamil Nadu, a claim which was strongly refuted by the Hindu, Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department.

It all began on Sunday afternoon with Sitharaman posting a series of tweets on X platform with a newspaper clipping that screamed ‘Ban’ alleging that the DMK dispensation has banned watching live telecasts of the Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. Tamil Nadu has over 200 temples dedicated to Lord Ram, Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The newspaper article she shared, published by Dinamalar, a Tamil daily known for its right-wing leanings, alleged that oral orders have been issued to temple authorities not to allow any pooja in the name of Lord Ram.

The state government, in a statement, vehemently denied the newspaper report, terming it as an attempt to “bring disrepute” to the DMK dispensation.

“The act of Dinamalar which is aimed at creating confusion among the people and instigating hatred against the government is highly condemnable,” an official statement said, adding that necessary legal action will be taken against the newspaper.

Sitharaman alleged that in HR & CE managed temples, no pooja/bhajan /prasadam/annadanam in the name of Shri Ram is allowed. “Police are stopping privately held temples from organising events. They are threatening organisers that they will rip off pandals. Strongly condemn this anti-Hindu, hateful action,” she wrote.

On his part, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai claimed that the DMK government has taken its “anti-Sanathana Dharma” stand to an extreme level by imposing a blanket ban on conducting special pooja in temples on Monday. He also said the BJP cadres will defy the ban and perform special poojas and bhajans in the glory of “Bhagwan Shri Ram” in all temples in the state.

Strongly refuting the allegations, HR & CE minister P K Sekarbabu said it was unfortunate that a person like Nirmala Sitharaman who holds “high position” was indulging in spreading a news that is “blatantly false and fake.”

“The HR & CE department has not imposed any ban on devotees to organise special poojas, annadanam, or distribute prasadam in the name of Lord Ram,” Sekarbabu said, adding that “rumours” were being spread to “divert people’s attention” from the DMK’s youth wing conference being held in Salem.

Sitharaman also claimed that cable TV operators in Tamil Nadu have been told that there is likely a power-shut down during the live telecast on Monday.

“Heart-breaking scenes in several parts of TN. People are threatened for organising #bhajans, feeding the poor, celebrating with sweets even as we wish to watch Honourable PM Narendra Modi participate in Ayodhya… This is I.N.D.I Alliance partner DMK’s anti-Hindu efforts,” she further alleged.

In another tweet, Sitharaman said the Tamil Nadu govt is unofficially claiming law and order issues to justify the live telecast ban. “The groundswell and the voluntary participation of people to celebrate #ShriRam in TN has rattled the anti-Hindu #DMK,” she claimed.

The BJP accuses the DMK of being “anti-Hindu”, a claim that is rejected outright by the Dravidian party which says it respects all religions.

DMK youth wing secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin had last week said the party’s opposition to Ram Temple in Ayodhya was only on the grounds that it has been constructed after demolishing the Babri Masjid.

“Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) said the DMK was not against any faith. We don’t have a problem with the (Ram) temple being constructed there. We are not in agreement with the temple coming up at the place where Babri Masjid once stood. We opposed demolition of the masjid and we are clear we don’t want to mix politics and religion,” Udhayanidhi had said.