Screenshots of the articles published by 'The Commune' (Image: Organiser)
Tamil Nadu government has filed FIR against ‘The Commune’ alleging one of their reports on ‘Chidambaram Temple’ may lead to a law and order situation. The FIR has been registered against the editor-in-chief of the website, Kaushik Subramanian by a local revenue department staffer, Sheikh Sirajuddin.
The Commune has been constantly rising its voice against administrative behaviour as far as breaching the sanctity of the temple. On June 28, Commune published an article with the headline, ‘HR&CE Officials And Police Forcefully Enter Kanakasabai, Assault Deekshitars At Chidambaram Temple Amidst Aani Thirumanjanam Festival’ and then they did a number of follow-up stories on the same. Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE)
It is noteworthy that, during the Aani Thirumanjanam festival, starting from June 24 to June 27 this year, devotees are not allowed to enter the Kanakasabai to ensure the smooth handling of the large crowds who are visiting the temple during this period. However, the HR & CE officials and over 100 policemen defied this and entered the Kanakasabai during the sacred rituals. As a result, the Deekshitars, who are the custodians of the temple, protested against this intrusion, and 11 Deekshitars were booked for obstructing the officials.
Even after the act getting recorded on camera, the Chidambaram police officials denied that such an incident happened. They say that officials had entered the platform to allow worship as per the government order.
The complainant in the FIR has stated that the website allegedly published a series of defamatory posts on the social media platform accusing local authorities of harassment during the festival.
Sirajuddin is the VAO of the area and said in his complaint that he overheard people at 2 different bus stands discussing the news of Dikshitars being misbehaved with by HR&CE officials and hence he thinks that The Commune’s reports can cause law and order problems in Chidambaram area.
Notably, the Tamil Nadu government is formulating a plan to take over the temple administration from Dikshithars. The state government has claimed that the temple administration has denied devotees the right to worship. Furthermore, the state government has accused the temple administration of irregularities and lack of transparency in the administration.
He added that the reports by The Commune, which supported the Dikshitars and opposed the state government, were intended for stirring law and order issues and to create rumours against the government. The complaint by Sirajuddin was filed on June 29.
Kaushik Subramanian of the digital news portal The Commune has also been summoned to participate in the investigation on 4th July.
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