Chennai, Feb 5 (NationPress) Tamil Nadu BJP spokesperson A.N.S. Prasad has accused the ruling DMK of abandoning Tamil god Lord Murugan in an attempt to appease minority vote banks. His remarks came in response to the recent protests at the Thirupparankundram hill shrine in Madurai district.
The controversy erupted after some Muslim organisations reportedly demanded the renaming of the hillock - home to both the Lord Murugan temple and a dargah - as Sikkandar Malai. This triggered protests from right-wing outfit Hindu Munnani, which argued that the hill is sacred to Lord Murugan and should not be renamed.
On February 4, the situation turned tense as Tamil Nadu Police arrested Hindu Munnani activists protesting at the site.
Criticising the crackdown, Prasad questioned whether supporting Tamil god Murugan now meant facing “emergency-like suppression and house arrest.”
Prasad further accused the DMK of being anti-Hindu and attempting to suppress the movement to protect Lord Murugan’s sacred site. He asserted that the growing Hindu resurgence in Tamil Nadu would ultimately overthrow the DMK government.
“Among Lord Murugan’s six sacred abodes, Thirupparankundram is the first. The peaceful protest by Hindu organisations was meant to protect it, but the DMK government chose to suppress and crush this movement,” he said.
The BJP leader also questioned the existence of the Sikandar Dargah on Murugan’s sacred hill. Calling it a “historical blunder,” he alleged that the dargah was a result of an attempt to seize Murugan’s land. He linked the site to Malik Kafur’s invasions and claimed that Sikandar, a tyrant, was defeated during the Vijayanagara Empire’s rule.
According to Prasad, the British colonial regime fueled Hindu-Muslim divisions by converting Sikandar’s burial site into a dargah. He accused the DMK government of hiding this historical truth and using the presence of the dargah to impose restrictions on Hindu devotees at Thirupparankundram Hill.
The BJP leader also criticised the Tamil Nadu government for allegedly denying permission to light the ceremonial Karthigai Deepam lamp at the hill temple, calling it an act of disrespect towards Tamil Hindu traditions.
Prasad accused the DMK of prioritising minority vote banks over Tamil culture and Hindu beliefs. He claimed that while the government allowed practices such as animal sacrifices - allegedly not part of Islamic traditions - it actively suppressed Hindu protests aimed at protecting Murugan’s sacred land.
“DMK assumes Hindus are weak and can be deceived by Aryan-Dravidian and North-South propaganda. Since minorities vote for DMK en masse, the party always favours them over Hindus,” he alleged.
However, he asserted that Tamil Hindus have now awakened to what he described as DMK’s anti-Hindu stance. He pointed to the large gathering in Madurai’s Palanganatham as proof of this growing discontent.
A.N.S. Prasad also criticised the Tamil Nadu government’s response to the protests, citing the imposition of Section 144 in the Madurai district and the arrest of Hindu activists and BJP leaders across Tamil Nadu. He also alleged that many were placed under house arrest.
“Even during the Emergency, such levels of repression were not seen,” he said, adding that despite the crackdown, Murugan devotees remained resolute.
