DMK president M.K. Stalin on Tuesday took exception to Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture (Independent Charge) Prahlad Singh Patel’s proposal to add important sites, including ancient places of worship that are currently under the State government’s control, to the list of centrally protected monuments.
In a statement issued in Chennai, he said the temples in Tamil Nadu were under the control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, and ancient structures were protected by the State Archaeology department.
“At a time when the existing monuments under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India in Tamil Nadu remain neglected, the proposal to bring more monuments from the State list under its control is unjust,” he said.
Mr. Stalin alleged that the proposal of the MoS was shaped by the motive to impose the ‘Sanskrit culture’ on Tamil Nadu.
He said it was highly condemnable that the AIADMK government had not raised any objections to the proposal.
PMK founder S. Ramadoss said the transfer of administrative powers over historic Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu to ASI will hurt the sentiments of Tamils.
“The RSS and Sangh Parivar forces want to get rid of the HR&CE department to once again pave the way for Brahmins to indulge in corruption,” Dravidar Kazhagam president K. Veeramani said.
