Ram Temple Inauguration: Tamil Nadu responds to Nirmala Sitharaman’s claim of banning live telecast of event

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday (Jan 21), citing daily reportage from Tamil Nadu, alleged that the state government had barred people from organising events in the name of Lord Ram on the day of the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple which is scheduled for Monday (Jan 22) in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya.

Sitharaman took to her official X account and said that the DMK-led government had banned watching the live telecast of the Ram Temple inauguration.

"TN govt has banned watching the live telecast of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir programmes of Jan 22. In TN there are over 200 temples for Shri Ram. In HR&CE-managed temples, no puja, bhajan, prasadam/annadanam in the name of Shri Ram is allowed. Police are also stopping privately held temples from organising events. They are threatening organisers that they will rip off pandals. Strongly condemn this anti-Hindu, hateful action," the Union finance minister posted on X.

Sharing a clip from a media report, she claimed that the cable operators were earlier told that there would likely be a power outage during the time of the live telecast.

"Heartbreaking scenes in several parts of TN. People are threatened for organising bhajans, feeding the poor, and celebrating with sweets, even as we wish to watch PM Narendra Modi participate in Ayodhya. Cable TV operators are told that there is a likely power shutdown during the live telecast. This is I.N.D.I Alliance partner DMK's anti-Hindu efforts," she added.

Calling the state government "anti-Hindu", she said that the enthusiasm among people for the Ram Temple consecration ceremony has rattled DMK.

"TN government is unofficially claiming law and order issues to justify the live telecast ban. False and fake narrative! There were no L&O issues on the day of the Ayodhya verdict. Not even the day when PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation in any part of the country. The groundswell and the voluntary participation of people to celebrate #ShriRam in TN have rattled the anti-Hindu DMK," she added.

Tamil Nadu government rebuffs claim,callsit'false'

The state government dismissed the claims dubbing them as false news.

Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister, PK Sekar Babu released a statement saying that there was no such ban as alleged by Sitharaman on religious events further adding that there was no bar on the distribution of 'prasadam'.

WATCH |Ram Mandir Inauguration: Temples decorated in Delhi, special recitals at Ujjain's Mahakal

"Strongly condemn the spreading of false information in an attempt to divert people's attention from the DMK Youth Conference in Salem. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department hasn't imposed any limitations on devotees' freedom to offer food, conduct poojas in the name of Shri Ram, or provide prasad in Tamil Nadu temples. It is unfortunate that people in office, like Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and others, are purposefully propagating this erroneous information," Babu posted on X.

Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai also stated that Tamil Nadu, which held a significant place during the period of Ramayana, has been overshadowed by the administrators of the state whom he called "shallow-minded".

"The DMK government in TN has taken their anti-Sanathana Dharma stand to an extreme level by imposing a blanket ban on conducting special pooja and Annadhana in temples during Pran Prathishtha in Ayodhya. The HR&CE department has denied permissions verbally, and the TN Police department has been citing frivolous reasons for rejecting the request to telecast the programme live on a large LED screen that Tamil Nadu BJP and other organisations have arranged for the benefit of the devotees," Annamalai said.

(With inputs from agencies)