Rath Yatra enters Tamil Nadu, creates tension in political circles

Chennai: Not satisfied with the ruling AIADMK’s proclaimed intent to allow all religions to demonstrate their faiths peacefully, opposition parties displayed roused passions in the legislature against the Ram Rajya Rath Yatra which entered Tamil Nadu through Kerala on Tuesday.

Evicted from the Assembly, the protesting lawmakers led by MK Stalin staged a brief road roko outside the Secretariat ahead of their arrest. The protest spawned more such demonstrations across Chennai and other districts in the state.

Slated to reach Rameshwaram on Rama Navami, Sunday, the Yatra began its 41-day journey in Karsevak Puram in the temple town in Ayodhya mid-February. Organised by the Sree Rama Dasa Mission Universal Society, the yatra has passed through Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala largely without opposition. On Monday evening, its entry into Tamil Nadu through Tirunelveli district became a controversy: many opposition leaders across Dravidian outfits and Tamil nationalist parties voiced their protest against what they deem a “deliberate attempt to disrupt communal harmony.”


Responding to the Calling Attention Motion advanced by the DMK in the Assembly, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami asserted that it was not fair to smear a political hue on the idea of the procession: “It is a democratic country and every religion needs to be protected and allowed to follow their faiths,” he said amid thundering applause from the AIADMK lawmakers.