The systematic erosion of Hindu identity has been gradually underway, spearheaded by Islamist organizations, political parties, and fundamentalist groups, with full backing from the ruling DMK. This has been evident in the Thiruparankundram Murugan hills, where these groups assert their rights to animal sacrifice at the hilltop Sikkandar Dargah and eating non vegetarian food in the foothills. Additionally, there are reports of them painting Jain caves green and DMK ally, Ramanathapuram IUML MP Navaskani, claiming the dargah as part of Waqf property, which indirectly implies the entire hill falls under the Waqf board’s jurisdiction. To add fuel to the fire, the Dravidian-aligned media has been shamelessly spreading narratives suggesting that Tamil saints like Bogar praised and recognized the Muslim figure Sikkandar in their poems, which is a baseless and absurd claim masked as research. This is the height of media bias and sycophantic support for the ruling DMK.
After a series of protests by Islamist fundamentalist groups in Thiruparankundram, Hindus and devotees became increasingly agitated and concerned about the situation. The Hindu Munnani, along with other Hindu organizations and political parties like the BJP, took up the issue and announced a protest scheduled for 4 February 2025, two weeks in advance. However, the DMK government, in a last-minute move, imposed Section 144 on the eve of the protest to prevent public gatherings and arrest anyone under the guise of maintaining public order. This was a response to the large number of Hindus who planned to show their unity and protest against the cultural erosion of their identity. The DMK deployed over 1,000 police officers, set up barricades, arrested individuals who even attempted to buy bus tickets to Thiruparankundram or take autos from the railway station and leaders were house arrested. The crackdown was harsh and authoritarian. It was only after the intervention of the Madras High Court, which permitted the protest, that the DMK’s plan unraveled. Faced with this setback, the DMK activated its media networks to spread their own narratives. The Dravidian media, particularly Puthiyathalaimurai TV, has consistently been a mouthpiece for the ruling DMK, pushing narratives to serve their agenda.
The logic behind the Dravidianist media’s fake propaganda was to claim that small temples around the hills then adding it to the name of the temple hills and claim authority, which is an odd argument.
To support the Dravidianist media’s narrative, a self-proclaimed research scholar made the following argument, he said, “The hills are not called Sikkandar Hills only recently; they have been known by this name for centuries. In the ‘Bogar 7000’ poem, in the writings Bogar, who is part of the 18 Siddhas, he mentions Sikkandar Hills in the Saptakanda, stating that he visited the place and saw the samadhi of Sikandar Rishi. There are also royal gazette notes confirming this as Sikkandar Hills. There is an ‘Inam register’ which mentions ‘Sikkandar Hills’. Additionally, a folk song from the 1982 compilation book named ‘Verkottam,’ which records local folk songs, mentions Sikkandar Hills, along with other references to the mountain in songs. So, this name didn’t just come about today or yesterday; it has been known as Sikkandar Hills for centuries.”
What he peddled next was the height of absurdity, “For those who worship Murugan, this is Murugan hills; for those who revere Kandan, this is Kandan hills; for those who honor Satyagiri Eeshwaran, this is Satyagiri Mountain. Similarly, for those who follow Sikandar, it is Sikandhar Mountain. At the base of the hills, there is a Karuppanasamy temple, which is also seen as Karuppan Mountain. This mountain provides ample opportunities for all to visit and appreciate it.”
If we follow their logic, we could call Nirajan Kumar, a journalist earlier associated with PTTV news who works in the news building, the owner of the channel. But that would clearly be incorrect. In Hinduism, a temple is named after its main deity, and the main deity holds the primary ownership of the temple. For example, the main deity of the Thiruparankundram temple is Lord Murugan, who is worshipped as the first abode of Murugan, and no other deity takes precedence over him in this context.
Until now, the Dravidianist media has shown a lack of understanding of Hindu practices, but now it has started distorting history to claim that these are Sikkandar Hills with the help of Tamil “scholar” not even a history professor, who says, “When the Nayak kings fought, he escaped and climbed the Thiruparankundram hill, where he was killed. After his death, he was buried, and where he was buried, it is called dargah. A dargah is different from Mosque. Then the dargah was established prior. This dargah, which dates back to the end of the Sultan’s rule, was built on the land on top of the Thiruparankundram hills and temple in the foothills, to the north Jains. In addition to this, Christians have also lived here. So, all 4 religions lived in harmony here and there was no difference among them.”
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