News Bharati English
Chennai, December 16 :
Fatwas by Islamic institutions in and around Muslim dominated Rameshwam
and neighbouring villages have banned outsiders from entering the
villages.
Ramanathapuram district, 527 km south of
Chennai, which houses Rameswaram Temple and many holy shrines, is
getting out of bound for outsiders. Local Jamaath Councils have issued
‘fatwas’ declaring Muslim-majority villages out of bound for people even
from the district itself.
Entrances to Athiyuthu, Puthuvalassai,
Panaikulam, Azhagankulam and Sitharkottai sport such boards, all put up
by the local Jamaath Councils. “There are boards deep inside these
villages which declare outsiders are not allowed,” said B Arumugam, who
acted as a guide to this correspondent. Interestingly, all these
villages have a strong Muslim population.
“Advertising (banners, posters and
pamphlets) and honking (from vehicles) without permission is prohibited
inside the Panchayath. By Order - Muslim Jamaath Thajul Islam Sangh,
Pottakavayal”, is the board which welcomes the visitor to the village
entrance on the Attrankarai Road, hardly 10 kilometre from
Ramanathapuram town. “For the last 20 years, only Muslim candidates had
been elected from this constituency. Only Muslims could be elected from
this Assembly constituency,” said N Suriyaprakash, a civil
engineer-turned-politician.
Ramanathapuram is represented in the
Tamil Nadu Assembly by MH Jawahirullah of the Muslaim Munnetra Kazhagam
(MMK), an Islamic outfit. The MMK was an ally of the AIADMK in the 2011
Assembly election and switched over to the DMK camp during the July 2012
Rajya Sabha election. “Both the Dravida parties are responsible for
this sad state of affairs,” said Kuppuramu, a lawyer. He said the DMK,
the Congress and the AIADMK, in order to appease the minorities look the
other way when Islamic fundamentalists unleash a reign of terror.
Kuppuramu took this reporter to Pamban, a
village near Rameswaram island, the birth place of Pamban Swami, a
great Saivite saint. The Panchayath road has a board put by the Islamic
extremists banning outsiders from the road: “Not a public thoroughfare.
Ladies move about in this place,” says the board.
Pamban Swamy (1848-1929), who preached
love, compassion, kindness and equality, would be turning in his grave
if he comes to know what his successors have done in his place of birth.
The Hindu community is a scared lot because of the ever growing Islamic
extremism in the district. “During the DMK regime in 2008, some Muslim
youths hoisted the national flag with chappals at Vethalai village. The
case was hushed up by Hassan Ali, the then MLA of the Congress,” said
Kuppuramu. He said there was another instance of tricolour with chappals
being hoisted in Puthumadom village which too was hushed up Hassan Ali.
Efforts to contact the district
collector and superintendent of police were futile. Though e-mails were
sent to both the officials, there were no replies. “The collector is
busy in meeting senior officials. We are yet to check the mail,”
Dharman, his personal secretary told The Pioneer on being asked about
the email.
R Nataraj, former director general of
police, Tamil Nadu, said it was not proper to put up such boards. “I
don’t think even the government has the power to put up such boards. But
we have to find out why they have put up boards like this,” said
Nataraj. BR Haran, a political commentator, and Gowthaman, director of
Vedic Science Research Centre, Chennai, who accompanied this reporter to
the spots, were told by villagers of Azhagankulam that they have no
other way but to fall in line. “We can never survive here without their
cooperation. We are all businessmen and why should we bother about such
boards?” asked Nithyanandam, a building contractor at Azhagankulam.
The villagers are still in a state of
shock as some Muslim youth slaughtered a cow in front of the
Muneeswarankoil Temple. “The Jamaath Council president and secretary
told us that they were helpless as the youth would not listen to them,”
said Senthilvel, a foreign exchange dealer in the village. Suba
Nagarajan, a BJP leader in Ramanathapuram, said the Muslims in the
district are on a warpath with the Hindus since 1981. “Religious
conversion and smuggling are rampant in the district. Panna Ismail and
Bilal Mohammed, who murdered Hindu leader Vellaiyappan in July 2013 at
Vellore had come to Keezhakarai after the murder. The police should
probe the details of their visit to Keezhakarai,” he said.
According to Kuppuramu, nearly 50 per
cent of the business establishments in Ramanathapuram are owned by
members of the Musilm community. “A Hindu can launch his business only
if he gets approval from the Muslim community. This is an unwritten rule
in the district,” said Kuppuramu. He said his efforts to meet the
superintendent of police ended in futile as the officer was busy most of
the time.
The local population is of the view that
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa is the only person who could solve this
fundamentalism tangle. “She made the police track down the killers of
Hindu leaders by constituting the Special Investigation Division. The
same SID may be able to resolve this issue,” said Shiva Thavasimani,
Hindu Munnani leader.
(With Agency Inputs)
Courtesy: en dot newsbharati dot com
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