The BJP leader also stated that the removed statues would be replaced with those of freedom fighters and Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar.
Annamalai in Srirangam. (X)
The BJP has provoked a flare-up with Dravidian parties with its Tamil Nadu state president, K Annamalai, vowing to remove the statues of EV Ramasamy Naicker, popular as Thanthai Periyar, if the right-wing party came to power in the state.
The ruling DMK reacted quickly, with Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Minister PK Sekar Babu countering on Wednesday, 8 November, that the state was Dravidian soil and “even the sun could rise in the west but the BJP caould not come to power in Tamil Nadu”.
Annamalai’s avowal came at a public meeting he addressed at the end of his En Mann En Makkal (My Soil, My People) yatra in Srirangam on the evening of Tuesday.
“As soon as the BJP comes to power in Tamil Nadu, the first signature would be to remove the statue of the person (Periyar) who said there is no God and those who worship God are fools, that are erected in front of temples across the state,” Annamalai said.
Significantly, the meeting was held at a venue between the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple and the Periyar statue.
The BJP leader pointed to the flag of Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) in front of the temple and said that when the DMK came to power in Tamil Nadu in 1967, they erected a statue of the person who spoke against the existence of God and hoisted his flag.
“When we come to power, the BJP will remove all ‘atheistic’ flag posts, notice boards, and statues in front of all the temples,” Annamalai said.
The BJP leader also stated that the removed statues would be replaced with those of freedom fighters and Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar.
Annamalai asked why the DMK called themselves friends of Hindus, even after proclaiming that there was no God and erecting such statues in front of temples.
He stated that the HR&CE Department had been consistently against Sanatana Dharma, which had been promoted by Hindus for centuries.
He said: “I promise. The first day of the BJP government will be the last day of the HR&CE Department in the state”.
“In the 13th century, thousands of Vaishnavites sacrificed their lives to protect Nam Perumal, the god of the Srirangam temple. Such is the strength of Sanatana Dharma. Even the Mughals were unsuccessful in eradicating Sanatana Dharma, and how will Udhayanidhi Stalin abolish it?” Annamalai asked.
The BJP leader also asserted that the BJP was not against any religion and would be the first to give its voice to the minority communities if they faced any problem.
Replying to Law Minister Ragupathy’s statement that action would be taken against the BJP leader in 2024, Annamalai said: “The minister, who holds the law, courts [and prisons] portfolio is not even competent to take action against me now, is telling me that he will expose me once his alliance comes to power.”
“Why wait till 2024? Arrest me now. This is the nature of the DMK government when it comes to power. They are intolerant against those who question them,” claimed the BJP leader.
Reacting to Annamalai’s statement, HR&CE Minister Sekar Babu said that even the sun could rise in the west, but the BJP could not come to power in Tamil Nadu.
“The BJP can conduct several I-T (Income Tax) and ED (Enforcement Directorate) raids, and it could never come to power in Tamil Nadu. This is Dravidian soil. For the next 25 years, no party other than the DMK will come to power. People of the state will never choose the BJP to rule them,” said Babu.
The minister also said that Tamil Nadu comprised both atheists and believers and that the DMK government inducted all ideologies, including those of Hinduism and Periyar.
On 20 July, 1969, the Tiruchy district unit of the Periyar Dravida Kazhagam (DK) decided to erect a statue of Thanthai Periyar in a meeting held at an electrical shop at South Gate Street. A resolution was made to pressurise the Srirangam municipality to accord permission to erect the statue.
Periyar statue Srirangam. (Supplied)
Subsequently, following the demand of the “Periyar Statue Committee” of the DK, the then municipality chairman of Srirangam Y Venkateswara Dikshidhar passed a resolution in the municipal committee and allotted a piece of land to install the statue.
In 1971, the Srirangam Municipality gave a no-objection certificate to allotting the plot measuring 12×12=144 sq ft opposite Sri Rangam Police Station, right in front of the temple, to erect the Periyar statue.
Based on that, on 3 March, 1972, proceedings were issued by the Tiruchy district collector, Tiruchirapalli, recommending the state government.
The state government, considering the recommendation of the district collector, referred the matter to the Board of Revenue.
The Board of Revenue, vide proceedings RT No 4557 (e) dated 25 July 1972, accepted the recommendations of the district collector and fixed the land value and the sub-division fees subject to the conditions specified under the Board Standing Orders and ordered the withdrawal of the land from the control of Srirangam Municipality.
Further, following a Revenue Department order dated 24 January, 1973, the land was withdrawn from the control of Srirangam Municipality. The same was handed over to the Periyar Self-Respect Propaganda Institution at Tiruchy, and the prescribed fee was also collected.
Thereafter, by a notice dated 27 January, 1975, the Srirangam Municipality handed over the land to the DK.
On 16 December, 2006, 31 years after the land transfer, the statue was unveiled by DK president K Veeramani.
Speaking to South First, DK functionary R Kaliyaperumal said that after 1975, several attempts were made to install the Periyar Statue. Still, the same was postponed due to opposition from the public, religious people, Hindu organisations and others.
“In between, an emergency was imposed in the state. Later, in 1977, due to a flood because of heavy rains, the documents with the party and in the government offices were damaged. It took 12 years to get those documents and the patta. In 1996, a stone inscription was laid at the proposed place of the statue,” he said.
He also added that it was estimated that it would cost nearly ₹2 lakh for the bronze statue at that period.
“Later, due to several issues and prolonged delay, it was decided to erect a cement statue,” he added.
Later, when the AIADMK came to power, no efforts were taken to install the statue. In 2006, when the DMK came to power again, the DK rushed to install the statue.
Following it, a public interest litigation was filed in the Madras High Court, and it was dismissed later.
Subsequently, it was decided to unveil the statue on 16 December, 2006. A cement statue was made, covered, and placed on the statue stage and was kept ready for the inauguration.
However, on 7 December of the same year, the statue was damaged as it was beheaded. As a result, several parts of Tamil Nadu witnessed sporadic incidents of violence following the damage of the life-size cement statue of Periyar.
The broken statue of Periyar.
The then chief minister, M Karunanidhi, told the state Assembly that such vandalism would not be forgiven. He said that though there could be differences of opinion, such acts could not be tolerated.
Hindu Munnani leader Arjun Sampath was arrested in connection with the incident. The police also filed an FIR against Swami Dayanand Saraswathi in the Periyar statue case.
To protest the Periyar statue damage, about 50 members of Makkal Kalai Iyakkam brought a picture of Lord Ram and set it on fire outside the Srirangam temple.
Petrol bombs were hurled at the Ayodhya Mandapam, a well-known Rama temple and religious centre in West Mambalam, in the heart of Chennai. Further, the shopkeepers outside the temple were attacked.
In Hosur in Krishnagiri district, a picture of the pattabhishekam (coronation) of Lord Rama was garlanded with slippers and set on fire in the middle of the road.
In Salem, the mutt and a Vedic school run by the Kanchi Shankarachariyar Mutt were ransacked. Following this, five activists from Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, Tamil Youth Party and Tamil National Party were arrested.
A Vinayaka temple near the taluk office in Sankarapuram in Villupuram district was vandalised, and two Ganesh idols were uprooted and smashed by miscreants.
In Erode, Raghavendra Brindavanam, the temple in the Kaarai Vaaykal area on Agraharam Street was ransacked. The idols in the temple were damaged.
Later, DK president Veeramani had to appeal to the people to exercise restraint. In a statement, he said nobody should take the law into their hands and cause embarrassment to the state government. He also announced that a 5.5 ft tall bronze statue of Periyar would be installed outside the temple.
As announced in December 2006, on a 12-feet pedestal, a bronze statue of Periyar was installed near the Rajagopuram (temple tower). The then Union minister for environment and forests, A Raja, and state ministers, KN Nehru and N Selvaraj, participated in the event.
Recently, in August 2022, stunt choreographer and actor Kanal Kannan, a functionary of the Hindu Munnani, was arrested for his provocative speech calling for the demolition of the Periyar statue installed near the Srirangam temple.
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