DMK will never stand against religious beliefs or devotion, says MK Stalin

Addressing a gathering in Salem, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin claimed that DMK never stood and will never stand against religious beliefs.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday said that DMK never stood against anyone's religious sentiments amid debate over a ban issued on Dharmapuram Adheenam’s ‘pattina pravesam’ earlier this month.

'Dharmapuram Adheenam' was refused permission by the Mayiladuthurai district administration to conduct pattina pravesam, a customary practice during which the pontiff is carried on a palanquin by devotees on their shoulders. The row came to an end following CM MK Stalin’s intervention and permission was granted for the ritual by the district officials.

"DMK has never stood against or will ever stand against anybody's religious sentiments or devotion. Both spiritual and rationalist campaigns can co-exist here," Stalin said, addressing a gathering in Salem.

"If you are really a spiritual person you should have supported us, instead you are creating communal tensions and doing communal politics. They [Opposition] are trying to divert the issues. There are few people who are not able to find fault with this government so they have taken spiritualism as a weapon," he added.

Speaking about the achievements of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of state government, Stalin said, "I can proudly say that nearly Rs 2,500 crore assets of the temples have been reclaimed only during the DMK government. Temple documents have been digitised. DMK government ensured that people from all castes could become priests. We have facilitated Tamil hymns to be sung in temples during pooja."

"We have increased funds from one lakh to two lakh for 12,959 temples to conduct a one-time puja. We are going to start 10 arts colleges under the HR and CE department," he added.