After insult, TNCC chief Selvaperunthagai recalls Madurai temple entry protest

CHENNAI: In what appeared to be a veiled retort to the insult meted out to him by HR&CE department officials at the Vallakottai Murugan Temple in his Sriperumbudur constituency, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K Selvaperunthagai on Wednesday posted a cryptic message recalling the famous temple entry protest organised by Congress district president A Vaidyanathan in Madurai a little less than a century ago.

In a message that could well prick the ruling DMK, more so after the infamous Vallakottai Murugan temple incident in Kancheepuram, Selvaperunthagai said, "Mahatma Gandhi, who firmly believed in the principle that all people are equal before God, advised the then Madurai district Congress president and Barrister A Vaidyanathan that people from the Dalit community must also visit the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple to worship god."

"Accordingly, Vaidyanathan led six members, including Congress veterans Kakkan, Muruganandam, Chinnayya, Poovalingam and Shanmugham in to the sanctum sanctorum of the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple and worshipped the goddess on July 8, 1939," said Selvaperunthagai, in the message posted on his 'X' handle, probably, reminding people of the discrimination prevailing at the abode of god even nearly century later.

That the TNCC chief has posted the message a day after state HR&CE Minister PK Sekarbabu personally expressed regret over the insult faced by him at the behest of government officials gave enough for critics to interpret the political undertone in the statement of the TNCC chief, who, for sure was not impressed with the attitude of babudom. Reiterating the historic outcome of the temple entry protest, Selvaperunthagai said that the gopurams (towers) of the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple stand tall as a testament to the historic achievement of the Congress party. Minister Sekar Babu was in fact, quoted as assuring an appropriate inquiry into the Kancheepuram temple incident.

Curiously, talking to media persons earlier in the day, an evasive Selvaperunthagai sought to downplay the incident and said, "Misdeed of a few officials must not cause a blemish to the state government's reputation. Minister Sekar Babu met me personally and expressed regret. He also assured a thorough probe into it. I put an end to it yesterday itself."