Chennai: By stating that a protest will be held in support of those who have encroached on temple properties, the Hindu Munnani has urged the Tamil Nadu government to take appropriate action against Communist party members who are acting in a manner that could incite unrest in Tamil Nadu.
In this regard, in a statement issued by Hindu Munnani state president Kadeswara C. Subramaniam, “Hindu Munnani strongly condemns the announcement by former state secretary of the Communist Party of India, Mutharasan, that a protest will be held in support of temple property encroachers, pressing various demands of temple land encroachers, including that pattas should be issued to those residing by encroaching on temple land and that rent should not be increased for shops owned by the temple.
The Communist Party members have been rejected and cast aside by the people not only in Tamil Nadu but across the country. In the by-election held recently in Tamil Nadu, the people have sidelined them.
In a case concerning temple land, the Supreme Court recently ruled that even if temple land is inam land, it belongs to the deity in that temple, and that the government is only a guardian responsible for protecting the temple land.
Despite the legal order stating that temple property does not belong to encroachers, Communist party members, in an attempt to show their presence, are planning to stage a protest in support of encroachers regarding temple properties, creating a tense atmosphere in Tamil Nadu, which has made their position a laughingstock.
The Madras High Court has stated in its judgments that temple property is to be regarded as minor property. Therefore, the government has no right to change its name, sell it, or use it as it pleases.
The demand that temple land ownership and the ownership of the building constructed on temple land should be granted to encroachers simply because they have occupied temple lands and lived there by building houses for many years is unacceptable.
It is highly condemnable that the Communist Party members, who in Tamil Nadu ruined many well-functioning factories and government public sector enterprises in the name of protest and destroyed the livelihoods of workers, have now come up with the idea that temples and temple properties should be destroyed and eliminated.
Why have the Communist Party members, who have been carrying out continuous protests against temples with the intention of destroying and wiping out the temple that stands as the center of Tamil culture and civilization, remained silent so far about the sudden renaming and seizure, under the name of the Waqf Board, of lands that farmers in Tamil Nadu have been cultivating for generations, as well as houses and properties in which people have lived for thousands of years?
If the Communist Party members, who call themselves the ally of the poor, are truly fighting for the poor and for workers, then they should give the party’s properties, worth crores of rupees, to the poor who do not have homes.
The Tamil Nadu government should take appropriate action against temple land encroachers, recover temple properties, and protect them. The Tamil Nadu government should reject such blatantly unjust demands that are illegal.
Temple properties belong to the temples themselves. Protecting them is the government’s duty; therefore, the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and the Tamil Nadu government should take appropriate action against temple property and land encroachers. Appropriate action should also be taken against Communist Party members who are acting in a way that deliberately incites unrest in Tamil Nadu,” he said.