RSS calls off 6 Nov Tamil Nadu rally as Madras HC orders it to be conducted in compounded premises

The statement from the ideological parent of the BJP further said that it would appeal against the order given by Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan.

Road to permission

It may be noted that the Tamil Nadu Police on 2 November submitted to the court that it had given permission for the rally in three places — Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, and Perambalur — and permission was granted to hold the procession or public meeting in an indoor setup in 23 places.

As for the other 24 locations, the police denied permission in view of the intelligence reports warning of possible law-and-order issues, especially in the wake of the Coimbatore car blast incident.

The court, after perusing the intelligence reports submitted by the police in a sealed cover, found no adverse material apart from a few scattered law-and-order issues.

Accordingly, permission was granted for the RSS procession in 44 places. However, when the order copy became available, it emerged that the court, apart from asking the RSS to abide by the conditions it had laid down earlier, also imposed another rider that the procession and public meeting should take place inside compounded premises.

In the case of six other locations — Coimbatore city, Mettupalayam, Pollachi, Palladam, Arumanai, and Nagercoil — the court denied permission to hold the event, after finding “some material” in the intelligence report submitted by the police, as the mentioned places were “very sensitive areas”.

It may be noted that the state police are on high alert over the Coimbatore car blast case, in which 29-year-old Jameesha Mubin was killed after his Maruti-800 car exploded outside the Kottai Eswaran temple in the Ukkadam area. The police said that Mubin was radicalised, and was plotting a terror attack. Even though a week has passed since the incident, an uneasy calm still prevails in Coimbatore.

Continued roadblocks to route march

The route march of the RSS, followed by a public meeting, was initially supposed to be held on 2 October in order to celebrate “75 years of Indian independence, the birth centenary of Dr BR Ambedkar and Vijayadashami”. It was also the founding day of the RSS.

However, despite a favourable order from the high court, the Tamil Nadu government denied permission for the event following the petrol bomb attacks and other violent incidents reported in the state after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs banned the Popular Front of India and its affiliate organisations.

The RSS then moved the court seeking to initiate contempt proceedings. However, taking into consideration the sensitive law-and-order situation which prevailed at the time, the court postponed the route march to 6 November.

The RSS, for about a decade now, has been finding it difficult to conduct its route march in Tamil Nadu. Late chief minister J Jayalalithaa refused permission for the procession for several years. Though it was allowed to be conducted after her death in 2016, it hit another roadblock in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the RSS, the route March assumes significance as it has been looking to expand in Tamil Nadu, a state where it faces ideological hostility. Moreover, the state BJP unit has also been working aggressively to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu.