Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai on Friday said his party would hold protests in front of important temples to condemn the State government’s decision to keep all places of worship, including temples, closed from Fridays to Sundays due to COVID-19 regulations. The party wants temples to be opened on all days. Former national secretary of the BJP H. Raja will be coordinating the protests, he said.
The party will hold the protests on October 7 at 11 a.m. Mr. Annamalai urged the people to join the protests and extend their support as the Navaratri is approaching and people should be able to visit temples every day.
He accused the DMK government of functioning on “their philosophy of atheism”, which, he claimed, was evident from the banning of Vinayaka Chathurthi celebrations and the proposal to melt the “sacred gold” offered by devotees to temples. He said lakhs of small traders who were dependent on temples to sell offerings to the deities were severely hit due to the closure of temples for three days each week.
Mr. Annamalai said if the government did no heed to the demand for reopening temples on all days, the BJP will convert the issue into a people’s movement.
