CHENNAI: The Hindu Munnani announced statewide protests across Tamil Nadu on Sunday, alleging religious discrimination and "deliberate obstruction" of Hindu traditions.
The organisation's state president, Kateshwar Subramaniam, said the demonstrations are meant to condemn what he described as the DMK government's "double standards" in handling the Karthigai Deepam issue at the Thirupparankundram hill.
According to him, the state government has been "playing a duplicitous game" by citing an appeal as the reason for not allowing the traditional lighting of the lamp atop the Thirupparankundram hill.
The controversy has been escalating for days, following the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court's order permitting the lighting of the sacred lamp on the hilltop - a long-standing tradition associated with the Karthigai festival.