Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple Issue: Seeman Takes The Side Of Islamists Demanding Animal Sacrifice On Thaipoosam Day

Naam Tamilar Party chief Seeman has once again attempted to appease the minority Muslim vote bank, promoting narratives against the sacred Hindu site of Thiruparankundram Hills. He emphasized that the hill dargah has a long-standing tradition of sacrificing goats and roosters, cooking meat, etc., and claimed that recent efforts to ban these practices were unwarranted. Seeman labeled the Hindus and Murugan devotees who united in opposition on 4 February 2025, during a mass protest as a “divisive force” and suggested that the DMK should curtail their rights.

Previously, Seeman, who refers to Murugan as the “great-grandfather” of Tamils, criticized Murugan devotees who opposed groups like the SDPI, which claim the right to sacrifice animals at the sacred hilltop—actions that contradict the temple’s traditions. He crafted a narrative suggesting that the protests were aimed at opposing Muslim worship at the dargah, employing divisive rhetoric that risks inciting violence. This rhetoric obscures the fact that IUML Ramanathapuram MP Navaskani, a DMK ally, audaciously visited the temple and claimed that the dargah was under the Waqf Board’s jurisdiction, implying control over the entire hill and posted pictures of Navaskani’s supporters consuming non-vegetarian food in the foothills near the temple, which angered devotees and sparked a large-scale protest.

Despite these facts, Seeman who has failed to address the real issues at hand pandered to Muslim voters while distorting the concerns of Hindus who seek to protect the sanctity of their temple misrepresented their legitimate grievances as divisive, all while ignoring the true motivations behind the protest.

NTK Chief Seeman via his official X account stated, “When the Kashi Vishwanathar Temple and the Sikkandar Dargah have stood on Thiruparankundram Hill for many years, with people of both religions worshipping according to their beliefs without any conflict. Now, who turned this into a problem and made it a big deal? Who turned Madurai, where the grand event of Kallazhagar’s descent into the river and the Chithirai festival are celebrated with great social harmony and without any minimal commotion, into a place of religious tension? Why did the ruling DMK government help to inflate the situation instead of preventing it from escalating into a major religious conflict by inviting both sides at the outset, reaching a consensus, and finding a solution? Given that the gifting of goats and chickens to the Sikandar Dargah, along with the cooking and eating of meat, has been carried out with religious harmony very naturally, what is the reason behind the sudden refusal of police permission to bring goats and chickens? Why is there no departmental action against the police officer for his actions? Why is there hesitation in issuing an order that there is no prohibition on cooking and eating meat at the dargah on Thiruparankundram Hill? How did the BJP get permission from the court on the same day to hold a protest focusing on this issue on 3 February, and how did thousands of BJP members manage to do so in the evening? How was this possible when Section 144 was imposed? How did the police allow BJP members to trespass into the temple with BJP flags? While the BJP, RSS, and other Sangh Parivar groups are trying to turn the Thiruparankundram hill problem into an issue to make Madurai a religiously sensitive area like Coimbatore, why is the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department not standing on the side of justice and acting as if to strengthen the BJP’s side? Under whose direction is Minister Sekarbabu acting this way? What is Chief Minister Stalin doing? Is the DMK paving the way for Hindutva politics? Why didn’t the DMK government argue that the practice of eating meat at the dargah is a long-standing custom in the case related to this issue? Why is the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department objecting to the sacrifice of goats and chickens on the hills? In the peace committee talks, officials of the Department said, “If goats and chickens are sacrificed on the mountain, the sanctity of the mountain will be spoiled.” Revenue Commissioner Kannan says it is a ‘Shiv mountain’. Is the DMK government deliberately trying to create religious tension? Why did the Chief Minister and the ministers pass by without taking responsibility and responding to the issue of Thiruparankundram Hills Dargah when Manithaneya Makkal Katchi MLA P. Abdul Samad brought a resolution to draw attention to it? The Places of Worship Act, enacted in 1991, provides for the continuation of the religious status of the place of worship as it was at the time of independence. On that basis, is it not illegal for the DMK government’s Charity Department to suddenly ban the ritual of sacrificing goats and chickens at Sikandar Dargah, which has been going on for over 300 years?”

“It is the moral responsibility and duty of the ruling DMK government to effectively guide and manage the officials under its authority. Due to the poor management of the DMK government, from the Kallakurichi illegal hooch deaths to the issues surrounding worship on Thiruparankundram Hill, the bureaucracy has become dysfunctional and is going astray. Honorable Chief Minister Mr. Stalin bears full responsibility for this. Is it fair for him to merely wave his hand at the officials and evade his responsibilities? At a time when the Sangh Parivar is spreading slander and unleashing a divisive conspiracy by threatening to turn Sikandar Dargah into another Ayodhya, isn’t it treasonous for the DMK government, which should support the Muslim community’s right to worship, to remain falsely silent and take a stand against them through the Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments?”

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