The DMK government in Tamil Nadu has once again shown its true anti-Hindu colours and come after people trying to uphold dharma to the highest of standards. Reportedly, on Monday (May 30), the Tamil Nadu police arrested YouTuber and social media influencer and YouTuber Karthik Gopinath for gathering funds for temples in Siruvachur, Perambalur district. He has been placed under judicial custody till June 13.
YouTuber Karthik Gopinath had raised funds for the renovation of several desecrated temples in Siruvachur using the fund-raising app Milaap. The anti-Hindu brigade bolstered by the DMK regime in power had defaced several idols in the temple and an incompetent Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department (HR&CE), administering those temples had failed to conduct any maintenance work.
The complaint against Karthik was also filed by HR&CE Department which alleged that Karthik had cheated devotees and collected more than ₹ 50 lakh through the fundraiser. However, no evidence was provided of the said ‘scam’. YouTuber Karthik Gopinath, a self-identified nationalist runs the Ilaya Bharatham channel and has been hypercritical of the DMK regime in his videos. Thus, it doesn’t come as a surprise that using the Police, the DMK has tried to quash Karthik’s dissent.
Tamil Nadu BJP stands with Karthik
Annamalai, President of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Tamil Nadu took to Twitter to criticize the arrest and remarked that the DMK administration in Tamil Nadu is using coercive practices to suppress opponents.
Annamalai tweeted, “As usual DMK is resorting to intimidatory tactics when under pressure. The arrest of YouTuber Karthik Gopinath on completely trumped charges is not only condemnable but also shows the level to which this Government will go to silence an uncomfortable voice.”
https://twitter.com/annamalai_k/status/1531107448148267009
Annamalai also stated that he had spoken to Karthik’s father some time back and had assured him that TN BJP will stand behind YouTuber Karthik Gopinath and provide him legal support.
HR&CE Department has been schooled by the High Court for its incompetence
As far as Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department is concerned, this is not the first time that its incompetence has been brought out in the open. The department controls 36,425 temples, 56 mutts or religious orders (and 47 temples belonging to mutts), 1,721 specific endowments and 189 trusts in the southern state. However, with the DMK government in power, the HR&CE department has been infiltrated by Periyarites who want the complete destruction of Hindu temples.
As reported by TFI, the Madras High Court in a historic judgment last year had stated that Temple funds shall be first utilized for the maintenance of the temples and other activities and the surplus should be used to repair other temples that have been ruined due to the negligence of the state government. Moreover, the court had rapped the commissioner of the HR&CE Department and cautioned him for giving away the temple land freely.
The two-judge bench had observed, “The State Government or the Commissioner of the HR&CE department, who are the Trustee/administrator of the temple lands, shall not alienate or give away the lands contrary to the wish of the donor. The lands shall always remain with the temples. The ‘public purpose theory’ shall not be invoked in cases of temple lands over which the interest of the community people of the religious denomination generally rests.”
In addition, the Court also passed directions to the HR&CE Department for the proper audit of temple assets and remarked that the department’s website must display the number of idols of historical importance, the number stolen, the number retrieved, and the status of investigation with regard to stolen cases.
Read More: Madras High Court delivers a landmark judgment on freedom of Hindu temples and their lands
DMK and its anti-Hindu narrative
Reported extensively by TFI, DMK has been infamous for its anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin bigotry in the garb of Dravidian ideology. This anti-Hindu stance is amply clear from the statements of late DMK President M. Karunanidhi who said, “Lord Rama is a drunkard”. The late president has also remarked that the term ‘Hindu’ means ‘thief’. He stated, “Who is a Hindu? You must ask Periyar EVR. A good man would say the word Hindu means a thief.”
Read More: Adultery, hatred for Hindus, defiance of law— the Periyar doctrine is a super amusing read
Continuing his legacy, the present party president and current CM MK Stalin has further strengthened the party’s anti-Hindu stance. In a public gathering in 2019, he openly stated to uproot Sanatan Dharma. From being involved in cutting the sacred thread (poonool) of brahmins to not participating in any Hindu rituals in public, such as Ganesh Chaturthi or Saraswathi Pooja; DMK has left no stone unturned to go against Sanatan Dharma.
Known for its ultra-secular credentials, DMK and its patriarch leader Stalin would not dare go against the Church and Islamic institutions as it would mean losing out on the precious vote banks. However, the divided and blind Hindus, who continue to vote for the likes of DMK remain the easy targets. And once again Stalin has shown, how little he cares about the temples, beliefs, customs of the Sanatan Dharma or those like Karthik trying to protect them.