Madras: At a press conference held at the Periyar Thidal here on March 15, K. Veeramani, general secretary, Dravidar Kazhagam, dealt about the Mandaikadu religious riot. Till now, no Hindu-Christian clash had occurred in southern districts. Christians and Hindus had cordial relations.
There were cases while the husband was a Christian his wife was a Hindu or vice versa. For the religious riot, they cite the temple festival as the reason. The celebration of the temple festival is not a new thing occurring this year alone. The mass con- version of Meenakshipuram could not be connected to the Mandaikadu affair. Minister S. N. Rajendran and P. H. Pandian, Deputy Speaker of TN Assembly, participated in a function in which 2,500 Hindus embraced Christianity. Had any religious clash taken place then ? The religious clash at Mandaikadu was only at the instigation of the RSS. Recently, the general secretary of the RSS had said that KanyaKumari district was their stronghold. Not only that, at Negercoil they had held a conference to demonstrate their growing strength. The Madurai Mutt head who participated in the conference delivered a reckless speech. He assured them that he would give the lands belonging to his Mutt on lease for 99 years to spread Hinduism. The Mandalkadu clash had taken place against this background: The MGR government is mainly responsible for RSS getting so courageous. Minister R. M. Veerappan is responsible for encouraging RSS. He has himself become a propagandist for Hinduism. He has declared openly that he had taken pride in calling himself “a Hindu. He had asked why this country should not be declared a Hindu country ? Even Chief Minister MGR has once asked why there should not be RSS when there was Muslim League. The Leaque is there only to protect the rights of the Muslims who are in a minority. Unlike the RSS, they have not claimed that this country should become an Islamic state. If you closely study the speeches and the conduct of the TN Ministers one thing could be clear that they go against what they were sworn in an ministers. They go against the very principle of secularism. Because of the TN govt. support, the RSS gets emboldened. The Sankaracharya of Kanchi Kamokoti Peeta is of late openly propagating one thing. What is it ? Recently he has spoken at Madurai that the Hindus irrespective of their party affiliations “should become members of the religious national organisation”. What does it mean? Does it not mean an open call to all to join the RSS ? The Sankaracharya while opening an RSS unit in Andhra Pradesh praised the activities of the RSS. Taking advantage of these favourable situation, the RSS in TN is creating religious clashes. The govt. should impose punitive tax in areas where religious clashes take place.
