Tamil Nadu’s DMK government on Thursday refused permission to the RSS to hold rallies on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, to avert clashes with ideologically opposed political parties at a time tensions have risen over the Centre’s ban on the Popular Front of India.
However, RSS sources threatened to move court, citing a September 22 Madras High Court directive asking police to grant permission by September 28 for the Sangh’s proposed “route marches” at 51 places across the state on October 2.
The high court, which was hearing a petition from state RSS office-bearers, had added that the permission should be accompanied with stringent conditions to ensure law and order.
However, several political parties including the DMK’s allies — particularly the Dalit outfit VCK and the Left — opposed any RSS rallies on October 2, particularly because of the organisation’s perceived links with those behind the Mahatma’s assassination.
These parties proposed to counter any RSS rally with “human chains” for communal harmony. They were echoed by the Tamil nationalist outfit Naam Tamizhar Katchi, led by filmmaker turned politician Seeman.
On Thursday, the DMK government cited the volatile political situation — which has led to firebomb attacks on several BJP leaders’ homes amid the Centre’s weeklong crackdown on the PFI — to ban marches or public meetings by any political organisation on October 2.
An official release said that with the state government making all-out efforts to maintain law and order following the recent violence, permission for rallies on October 2 had been denied to the RSS and all other organisations.
Almost all political parties welcomed the government decision, among them the VCK and the Congress, lauding chief minister M.K. Stalin’s resolve to keep the communal forces at bay and protect secular values.
The state police said they had petitioned Madras High Court seeking a review of the September 22 order directing the force to permit the RSS “route marches”.
With the Tiruvallur district police having already on Wednesday denied permission to the RSS to hold marches in the district on October 2, the Sangh has moved a contempt plea before the high court. It is yet to be taken up.
After the Centre banned the PFI, VCK president and MP Thol Thirumavalavan and Seeman had demanded that the RSS be banned too for its sectarian activities.
Thirumavalavan had recently approached Madras High Court urging it to recall its September 22 order. He had argued that allowing RSS rallies on October 2 would be an affront to the memory of the Mahatma, considering his assassin Nathuram Godse’s links with the Hindu Mahasabha and ideological moorings in the RSS. He had also expressed fear about law and order.
However, the high court on Wednesday declined to take up his petition.
The past few days witnessed a slew of firebomb attacks on houses and properties of BJP and RSS functionaries in several places in the state, including Coimbatore, Nagercoil and Madurai. About a dozen people have been arrested, with state police chief Sylendra Babu issuing a warning to the arsonists.
State BJP president K. Annamalai has warned that the Centre would “not remain a spectator” if such attacks continue.
