DMK faces off with BJP in LS on Deepam row
NEW DELHI: Even as the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Friday said it would hear all appeals in the Thiruparankundram Karthigai Deepam case on December 12, the issue triggered an acrimonious exchange between BJP and DMK members in the Lok Sabha. The ruckus began during the Zero Hour after senior DMK leader TR Baalu raised concerns over the verdict by the high court. The HC judge had allowed petitioners to light the lamp on a stone pillar, Deepathoon, on the Thiruparankundram hill against the century-old custom followed by Tamil Nadus HR&CE department. The state government had defied the December 1 order of Justice GR Swaminathan, apprehending communal tensions in the state. The SC on Friday agreed to hear the states appeal challenging the HCs order. Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, Baalu accused the BJP of trying to ignite communal tension in Tamil Nadu and claimed that the judge belongs to a particular ideology. Who should light the deepam on the hill? Whether the Hindu Religious Endowment Board representative or some miscreants who have got a judgment from a Madras HC judge? he asked. Taking exception to Baalus reference to the judges ideology, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the DMK leader cannot cast aspersions on the judiciary and urged the chair to expunge the remarks. In the history of our Parliamentary democracy, we have upheld the discipline of avoiding disparaging remarks, Rijiju said. Thiruparankundram Karthigai Deepam row: Madras HC to hear appeals on December 12 TN targeting a particular community: Union minister We are not opposed to what he wants to express, but he cannot use unparliamentary language. This will lead to unnecessary trouble not only for you, but for your party as well, Rijiju added. While Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the chair, allowed Union Minister L Murugan from the treasury benches to intervene and reply, opposition members rose in protest against the decision. Murugan accused the state government of denying devotees the right to worship at the Arulmighu Subramaniya Swamy Temple. The state government is targeting a particular community and law and order of that region is being vitiated, he alleged. He claimed TN police had arrested devotees, who were proceeding to the temple to light the deepam as per the HC orders. The TN BJP president too has been arrested, he said. As he was speaking, some DMK members walked up to Rijijus seat, prompting the chair to ask the protesting members to confine themselves to the Well. Although the chair said Baalus remark would be removed from the record, the latter argued that the judge had himself acknowledged an association with the organisation. SC to consider TNs plea against HC order on lamp lighting at Thiruparankundram DMKs parliamentary party leader Kanimozhi, who spoke to the media later, condemned Rijiju for the intimidating tone he had used against Baalu. Blaming Murugan for providing false information on the issue during the Zero Hour, she said unnecessary problems were being created by the BJP in Thiruparankundram to infuse communal hatred among the people when people have offered prayers at the temple in the hill in harmony for long. She said that manufacturing such issues will not help the BJP since the Tamil people know who is working in their interests and who is creating differences. Meanwhile, normalcy began to return to Thiruparankundram on Friday even as heavy police deployment continued across the foothills and the hilltop, restricting access to the summit. Police are expected to continue high-alert deployment until clarity emerges on the issue.
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