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TN Congress Leader Mocks Reclamation Of Ancient Hindu Temples, Her Husband Was Earlier Disturbed By ‘Jai Sri Ram’ Kolams In Their Apartments On Ram Mandir Consecration Day

The Commune

Tamil Nadu Congress General Secretary and TNCC Committee Spokesperson, Lakshmi Ramachandran, is once again in the news. Earlier it was her posting a video of her husband ranting about the 22 January 2024 Pran Prathishta related celebrations at their society. This time she posted a meme on her X handle ridiculing Hindus trying to reclaim temples to uphold her ‘secular’ credentials. In a meme template using the popular Tamil comedian Koundamani, the ‘joke’ which is a conversation between a tenant and the house owner, reads as:

Tenant (to house owner): “What?! You are hiking the rent by ₹1000 from next month? Wait, I will inform the ASI that there is a Hanuman temple beneath the house.”

This is with reference to the recent developments in the Gyanvapi mosque land dispute issue. The ASI report definitively indicates that there was a Hindu temple beneath the mosque and the mosque had been constructed upon it. The ASI report included clear pictures of the Hindu Gods Ganesha, Hanuman, Nandi and the Yonipatta of Shivaling. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who represents the Hindu side, said that the ASI report proves that a grand Hindu temple, Adivishwara, was demolished by Aurangzeb in the 17th century to build the mosque. Akhlaq Ahmed, who represents the Anjuman Anjamiya Masjid Committee, as dismissing the Hindu side’s claims as unfounded and lacking expert validation. He questions the authenticity and age of the idols and stones found by the ASI. Following this development, the Varanasi court permitted for puja to be conducted at the mosque’s basement and today the puja ceremony had started.

‘Secular’ politicians like Lakshmi are trying to trivialise the matter and make mockery of Hindu sentiments by making jokes about discovering Hindu temple ruins under mosques. However, this is not the first time that Lakshmi has proudly displayed her ‘secular’ colours by speaking against the Hindu sentiments or making a mockery of Hindus.

In the video Lakshmi had posted regarding the Pran Prathishta ceremony (mentioned above), Swaminathan, her husband, claimed that the ceremony was a divisive event that stemmed from the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid. He urged the Hindu residents not to pass on their wrong values to their children and to respect the feelings of the Muslim and minority community members. The video sparked widespread condemnation online, with many criticising Swaminathan’s remarks as insensitive and divisive. Some also questioned the political agenda behind the video and the credibility of the speaker.

In September 2023, when TN Sports Minister Udhayanidhi made the controversial “Sanathana Dharma should be eradicated” statement, several Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu, who are allies of the DMK, came to the support of Udhayanidhi Stalin and tried to justify his remarks by differentiating between Hinduism and Hindutva, and claiming that Sanathana Dharma was a casteist and oppressive ideology. Lakshmi Ramachandran, the General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, claimed that Sanathanam is another name for the hate-mongering, casteist Hindutva which has its origins in the North.

In October 2022, she targeted the TN BJP chief Annamalai, misinterpreting his statements about Christian missionaries and accused him of spreading hatred and resentment against Christian missionaries and Christians in the state. Annamalai had claimed that Tamil Nadu ADGP (Intelligence) Davidson Devasirvatham had links with Christian missionaries and was working to promote his religion in south Tamil Nadu.

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