A panchayat office building constructed by the government at Periyapattinam village in Ramanathapuram district had a plaque with the inscription declaring that Periyapattinam is Tamil Nadu’s first capital of the Muslims.
The plaque that was installed at the new building read:
“Tamil Nadu’s first Muslim capital Periyapattinam
The first Islamic monarch to appear on Tamil soil was Sultan Syed Ibrahim, who ruled for about twelve years (from 1195 AD to 1207 AD) with Periyapattinam as his capital.”
It was said that this building was to be inaugurated by Ramanathapuram MP Nawaskani of the Indian Union Muslim League.
This plaque had caused a furore among the locals who had raised objections stating how the government can allow for such words to be inscribed to a public funded building.
Hindu organizations had cautioned that such actions would pave way for Islamic fundamentalism.
Sources from local Hindu organizations said that the district administration was initially reluctant in removing the plaque.
However, locals and other Hindu organizations had stated that if the plaque was not removed, they would place a plaque at the District Collectorate that lists the Hindu kings belonging to the Sethupathi clan.
Not just stopping at the word, the stone plaque of Sethupathi kings was even made ready.
Following this, the controversial plaque installed at the government building was removed.