Five Left parties on Tuesday strongly condemned what they termed as attempts by the BJP and other Hindutva forces to create communal discord in Tamil Nadu by raking up a controversy around religious sites on Thirupparankundram Hill in Madurai district.
In a joint statement, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party and All India Forward Bloc alleged that the BJP had sought to project the hill home to three temples, a dargah and ancient Jain caves as the “Ayodhya of the South”. “Seeking to extract political benefit in Tamil Nadu, BJP leaders, in February this year, labelled the site as the “Ayodhya of the South, brought in people from outside, and attempted to provoke an incident. They also used social media to vitiate the atmosphere and sow discord,” the Left parties said.
The statement criticised the recent order delivered by Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court permitting a petitioner to light the Karthigai Deepam atop a British-era survey pillar adjacent to the Sikandar Badusha Dargah. The Left parties said the ruling ignored past judgments, historical records and the Places of Worship Act, 1991, and undermined the State government’s authority on law and order.
Commending the people of Madurai and the DMK government for resisting communal mobilisation, the parties accused the AIADMK of siding with “communal elements”. They also condemned death threats issued to Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan by Hindutva groups.
Calling upon democratic and secular-minded citizens to reject “divisive politics”, the statement said such moves were aimed at diverting attention from the Modi government’s “assault on livelihoods and constitutional rights”.
The statement was signed by CPI(M) leader M.A. Baby, CPI’s D. Raja, CPI(ML) Liberation’s Dipankar Bhattacharya, RSP’s Manoj Bhattacharya and AIFB’s G. Devarajan.
Published – December 09, 2025 10:12 pm IST
