Tamil Nadu Thiruparankundram Hill Row: Prohibitory orders clamped in Madurai after Hindu outfit plans to protest animal sacrifice bid

Madurai (Tamil Nadu): Madurai district administration on Monday promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in Madurai city and tightened security measures in the wake of the pro-Hindu organisation Hindu Munnai planning to hold a protest on Tuesday to condemn the Islamic outfits’ recent bid to conduct animal sacrifices on the Thiruparankundram Hill, where an ancient temple and a dargah were located here.

The order comes into effect from this morning at 12 midnight on Tuesday and strictly prohibits any unlawful assemblies or gatherings and protests to maintain peace and ensure law and order, said district collector M.S.Sangeetha in a press release on Monday.

While the Hindus called the Thiruparankundram Hill as “Skanda (Lord Murugan) hill,” the Muslims described it as “Sikkandar hill,” and it was a Muslim property.

Madurai Commissioner of Police, J Loganathan, said there were five petitions pending before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on the issue. The police booked a few cases against some people hailing from both the communities over the issue.

The police have denied permission to the Hindu Munnai to hold the protest.

He appealed to the people not to take part in the protest and warned that legal action would be initiated against those attempts to stage a protest, besides their vehicles.

Adequate numbers of policemen were posted as precautionary measures around the hill besides all the vantage points in Madurai city, he added.

It may be recalled that the police stopped members of SDPI, an Islamic outfit that attempted to bring goats and chickens on January 18, last, to conduct animal sacrifice at the Sikandar Badusha Dargah on Thiruparankundram hill for a communal feast.

The Hindu outfits condemned the bid to conduct animal sacrifice on the sacred hill housing the centuries-old Lord Subramaniya Swamy Temple, one of the six abodes of Lord Murugan. They claimed that Muslims were attempting to convert the hill into an Islamic place of worship.

On January 22, Ramanathapuram Member of Parliament K.Navas Kani (IUML) visited the hill along with his supporters and claimed that Muslims had the right to pray at Dargah and demanded that the animal sacrifice atop the Thiruparankundram hill should continue as per their tradition.

BJP state president K Annamalai condemned Navas Kani, stating that he was threatening the religious harmony and unnecessarily provoking the Hindus by taking a group of Muslims to the hill and allowing them to consume cooked non-vegetarian food.