The DMK government has refused to permit devout Hindus from lighting the Karthigai Deepam at the Deepathoon on Thirupparankundram Hill near Madurai.
The DMK government has violated the Madras High Court order by preventing Hindus from lighting the lamp at the Thirupparankundram Hill’s traditional spot.
However, this very DMK government had allowed Islamists to carry out a funeral procession of a convicted terrorist who masterminded the 1998 Coimbatore blast that killed 58 people.
Deepam Blocked Despite Court Order
A Madras High Court division bench had permitted the Karthigai Deepam to be lit at the Deepathoon, a stone formation documented in earlier government publications and historically associated with Deepam lighting. The bench explicitly dismissed the State’s claim that allowing the lamp could trigger communal tension, holding that lawful religious practice cannot be restricted on vague apprehensions.
However, on the day of the festival, police erected barricades, issued last-minute restrictions, and prevented devotees including the petitioners who secured the order from reaching the spot. HR&CE officials argued in court that the pillar was merely a “survey stone,” contradicting archival descriptions from the department itself.
The government moved an urgent appeal but continued to enforce restrictions even after the bench’s directive. This resulted in the Deepam remaining unlit at the sanctioned location.
Despite a second order asking for the Karthigai Deepam to be lit the next evening, the government refused to permit devotees on to the hill.
Contrast With Funeral Of Terror Bomb Blast Convict
SA Basha, is a name synonymous with terrorism and fear in Tamil Nadu during the 1980s and 1990s.
Following the murderous attack on former BJP National President Jana Krishnamurthi and Tirukovilur Sundaram, Syed Ahmad Basha tried to assassinate Ramagopalan at the Madurai Railway Station in 1987. He was attacked with a billhook that cut off a portion of his skull.
The Coimbatore serial bomb blasts unfolded across 11 different locations within a 12-kilometer radius. The intended target, L.K. Advani, narrowly escaped the tragedy due to a delayed flight. Many of the survivors continue to grapple with the long-lasting effects of the shrapnel and other injuries caused by the devastating explosions.
SA Basha, openly threatened to kill the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi if he visited Coimbatore in July 2003. This threat was made by Basha and eight others while speaking to journalists in the Coimbatore court premises after their conviction and life imprisonment in a case related to the murder of a Hindu Munnani leader.
When the convicted terrorist died, Tamil Nadu witnessed an entirely different administrative posture, After his death in prison, his body was brought to Coimbatore, where large crowds, long processions and coordinated mobilisation by Islamist organisations were seen.
Police presence focused on traffic and crowd management. No restrictions were placed on the scale of the gathering, and the State issued no public advisory discouraging the large procession for a convicted terrorist.
DMK critics now argue that the State adopted a lenient approach to a mass mobilisation for a terror convict while taking a prohibitive approach toward a court-permitted Hindu festival practice – that would not have harmed anyone.
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