Former Inspector General of the Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu Police, Pon Manickavel came in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent comments about Tamil Nadu temples being looted by the state government.
Prime Minister Modi accused the Tamil Nadu State Government of encroaching temples and swindling temple wealth while speaking at a rally in Telangana’s Nizamabad.
“In south of India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, the state government is claiming ownership of temples. The state government has grabbed these temples. The wealth of the temples are being swindled through conspiracy. The temples are being looted. The temples are being captured. But they do not lay their hands on places of worship of minorities. They won’t bring them under the policies of the government.“, PM Modi said.
In response to this, CM Stalin categorically denied the allegations and said that what the Prime Minister said was a lie adding that his government had reclaimed temple land worth ₹ 3,700 crore rupees in the two years since the DMK came to power.
Speaking to reporters at Tirupur after visiting the Sukreeswarar Temple, Pon Manickavel said “The current Chief Minister (MK Stalin), if he knows the word ‘Nermai’, in Tamil we call ‘Ne’,’R’,’Mai’, and in English it means ‘honest’. His statement seems to be disingenuous. Disingenuous means dishonest. The reason is, you take wealth from Saiva, Vaishnava and other Hindu temples every time for public welfare. I am not asking you to take the wealth from other institutions (minority places of worship). Why aren’t you taking? This is the question which Prime Minister of India Modi, when speaking in a neighboring state politically, he makes this statement. Is it true or false? Is it correct or wrong? One can only give percentage out of 100. I am speaking to you after getting permission from my people. Not 100% but what he (PM Modi) said is 280,000% truth! Are temples being looted? Yes, it is true that temples are being looted!”
He said that the temples are being brought under the state’s control by force and added that the Hindu community is voiceless. He also said that 17 Jain temples have also been taken.
“What injustice is this? An electricity bill for these temples and a different electricity charge for those (minority places of worship). For these (Hindu temples) it is ₹7.5 per unit and for them (minority places of worship) ₹1.5 per unit. Isn’t this injustice? Even a small innocent child would instantly call this injustice. There is no difference of opinion. They don’t speak about all this and when such a time comes, they burst a cracker. Cracker in the sense, they do something which gives rise to a big controversy pan-India and go (referring to Sanatana Dharma controversy).“, he said.
He also took jibes at PK Sekar Babu, the DMK Minister in-charge of Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, saying that he is doing drama about retrieving 5000 acres of temple land.
Pon Manickavel said that over 4.78 lakh acres of temple lands have been encroached and what the HR&CE Minister claims to have retrieved is meagre adding that there are over 22,600 buildings and vacant sites around 33,683 grounds belonging to temples.
“In 8 months, the income from all these properties is around ₹151 crores. ₹151 crores income they’ve taken in just 8 months! It is to be welomed. Alright. But for how much you took how much? They don’t say how much of temples lands have been encroached. Suppose you ask a headmaster, for how many marks did the student score and get gold medal, and he refuses to say, you tell me if he is honest or dishonest.“, he said.
“You say you’ve retrieved 5000 acres of temple land. I don’t believe it but I will choose to believe what you say is true. But how many acres are you supposed to retrieve? In the legislature, they took signature from Sekar Babu showing the English document. I don’t know if he knows English or not. I am not demeaning him. Don’t take it wrongly. He is a big guy! He is a spiritual man. I bow to him. That is different. I am criticizing to encourage him not to pull him down. I am only urging him to question the Chief Minister.“, the former Idol Wing chief said.
He also pointed out how the Tamil Nilam portal of the Revenue Department shows only 340,000 acres as temple lands and said that if one were to subtract HR&CE Department’s figure of 478,000 acres and Revenue Department’s 340,000, over 135,000 acres have vanished.
“They’ve swallowed these many acres of temple land. We’ve to call them in singular only as they’ve stolen temple property. I am not able to give them respect. It is adharmam to give them respect. They’ve eaten it! Who ate? How did they eat? For many years, they’ve been eating? If out of 135,000 acres you retrieve 5000 acres, it comes to around 3.7% not even 4%. For him you are all giving a medal saying he has retrieved 5000 acres and he is hailed as a spiritual politician! Is it fair to dupe poor people who voted for you by sitting in such high position? Chief Minister is a big position and the voters are poor people. We, Sivanadiyars are poorer than them.“, he said.
He also slammed Chief Minister MK Stalin saying “I am not getting into politics but a Chief Minister is a public servant. He is taking a salary of more than ₹2 lakh. In that money, there is one paisa from you, 2 paisas from her and half a paisa from me. So, I have every right to question him. I have all rights to question Mr. Stalin. Everybody should ask. You answer! Isn’t this 5000 acre retrieval a lie? This is disingenuous. It may seem good on the outset but there will be dishonesty at the behind.”
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