Image courtesy: The Indian Express – Tamil
A video that went ‘viral’ of a group of men reportedly belonging to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) conducting training within the premises of a corporation (civic body) school at RS Puram near Coimbatore on Sunday, October 9 has created yet another controversy in Tamil Nadu. The school headmaster has been sent a show cause notice. The RSS claimed it did not conduct any training inside the school and the volunteers were involved only in cleaning activity.
It was the members of Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) that staged a protest in front of the school and raised slogans against corporation officials for allegedly providing permission for the RSS event, reported The Indian Express. Police personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
RSS ‘training’ at corporation school in Coimbatore sparks row, probe ordered
(Images: IE Tamil)Read here: https://t.co/NQp5IF73ii pic.twitter.com/yLSRmRxOc8
— Express Chennai (@ie_chennai) October 10, 2022
General secretary of the TPDK K Ramakrishnan, said: “The government should immediately take action against the concerned officials. The government should take measures to prevent such camps of RSS from taking place anywhere at corporation schools or public places in the future.” The issue was and is the grant of permission for such a training within the school.
Commissioner of the Coimbatore Corporation, M Prathap told the. Indian Express that the civic body does not grant permission for any social, political or religious gathering in schools and also added that it is investigating the incident. He added that the school headmaster was sent a show cause notice in connection to the incident.
#WATCH || வீடியோ: கோவை அரசுப் பள்ளி வளாகத்தில் பயிற்சி நடத்திய ஆர்.எஸ்.எஸ்!
சட்டரீதியான நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்படும் என மாநகராட்சி ஆணையர் பிரதாப் தகவல். https://t.co/gkgoZMHWlc | #Coimbatore | #RSS | #tamilnadu pic.twitter.com/XZ5lT5onpY
— Indian Express Tamil (@IeTamil) October 10, 2022
Further, the RS Puram police registered a case against the people who allegedly trespassed into the school premises.
Meanwhile, the RSS, quick to have a defence, claimed it did not conduct any training inside the school. “No shakha (branch meeting) was held and the volunteers were involved only in cleaning activity and it is part of our annual seva event where volunteers clean public places and other institutions,” IE Tamil quoted an RSS member as saying.
RSS in Tamil Nadu
In fact, the past few weeks have seen several attempts by the RSS to establish itself in the public sphere within Dravidian Tamil Nadu. In fact, on October 2, to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) took out a massive rally in Puducherry.
A day after the Tamil Nadu government denied permission to the RSS to hold a rally on October 2, the Madras high court on Friday, September 30, said the rally can be held on November 6. The week before the high court had directed the state government to grant permission to the RSS to hold a rally on October 2. After the RSS was denied permission, despite the Madras High Court giving its nod for a rally, a contempt of court petition was moved. The petition was moved by Karthikeyan, joint secretary of RSS’s Thiruvallur unit, and hearing the same,
Widely reported in the media, including the Hindustan Times and the Indian Express, however, the government then approached the court, seeking a revision of the original order, citing intelligence reports from central agencies indicating potential law and order problems. Meanwhile, the RSS’s Tiruvallur joint secretary R Karthikeyan also filed a contempt petition against officials and police for not granting permission for the rally despite the earlier court order.
The Madras high court finally directed Tamil Nadu police to grant permission to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for a march across 49 locations on November 6 and threatened to initiate contempt action against authorities if they violated the order.
A day before, on September 29, the state government had declined to grant permission for the march – initially scheduled for October 2 – even as a single judge bench of the court on September 22 gave its nod, with certain riders. October 2 is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The DMK-led state government refused to allow the march citing law-and-order concerns, in the wake of recent violence which erupted after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) on September 22 and 27 and arrested several of its members.
Justice G K Ilanthiraiyan, who had passed the order on the rally last month, was listening to a contempt of court petition by R Karthikeyan, joint secretary of RSS’s Thiruvallur unit, on September 30, when it directed the state government and police to give permission and inform the court about the same by October 31. In his petition, Karthikeyan pointed out that denial of permission to hold the march was an act of contempt against the high court order.
If a decision is not taken or permission is not given, the court will take up the contempt application and proceed to pass orders, the judge warned.
“Your concern is with regard to October 2, which happens to be Gandhi Jayanthi day. In that case, the event can be allowed to take place on November 6,” the judge said. Before this, , state public prosecutor Hasan Mohammed Jinnah had informed the judge that about 52,000 police personnel were on the roads after September 22 to protect the life and liberty of citizens due to issues such as NIA raids, petrol bomb attacks and the ban on PFI. Multiple petrol bomb attacks were reported in the state against Bharatiya Janata Party and RSS members following the crackdown against the PFI.
However, senior advocate G Rajagopalan and advocate B Rabu Manohar, who represented the RSS, insistently cited a Supreme Court ruling to say that law and order problems can never be a reason to deny permission. The top court had made it clear it was for the authorities to maintain law and order, they said. Senior counsel S Prabakaran, who also appeared for the RSS, said the organisation need not suffer because of the ban on PFI. “Our submission was that when a high court has given a positive direction, how can an inspector of police not follow it…they are unable to obey a court order,” advocate Manohar said, referring to the September 22 order.
In response, representing the state, senior advocate NR Elango said the government received intelligence inputs from the Centre on possible law and order problems in view of the series of action against the PFI. The lives of the members of the general public is foremost important and the state cannot take any risk on their safety, Elango said.
The counsel, however, said police were willing to grant permission on any other day other than Gandhi Jayanthi on October 2.
It was after the RSS presented four alternative dates, the judge directed the police to grant permission on November 6 and adjourned the contempt petition to October 31. Before suggesting the alternate date, the judge concurred with the state government on the security situation, saying he was watching the ground reality and alleged threat due to the action against PFI.
Meanwhile, earlier on the same day, justice Ilanthiraiyan reserved orders on a petition filed by Thol Thirumavalan, MP and head of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi’s (VCK), to recall the September 22 order on the march. VCK, an ally of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), had sought permission for a “social harmony” human chain, as a way of opposing the RSS march on October 2, which was also rejected by the government.
The high court also suggested Thirumavalavan approach the Supreme Court with his plea. The top court is the right forum to deal with the issue, the judge said, when the writ petition from the Lok Sabha member came up for hearing. Thirumavalan, who met Tamil Nadu directorate general of police (DGP) Sylendra Babu later in the day, said: “The DGP said he would discuss with his department and let us know.” “There is an agenda behind the RSS selecting October 2 for their march,” he alleged. The state government had filed a petition on September 27 for a review of the order on September 22.
Despite all these multiple developments, the RSS did take out a rally in neighbouring Puducherry after the Tamil Nadu government denied permission for the RSS rally. This was after the government under Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) denied permission to the rally of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Communist Part of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India Marxist (CPIM), all allies of the ruling DMK, on October 2, citing concerns over public safety and law and order. This came in the wake of recent violence which erupted after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the Popular Front of India (PFI) on September 22 and 27 and subsequently put a ban on the organization and its affiliates.
Speaking to the media on the issue, Narayanan Thirupathy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said, “The DMK is uptight about the growth of the BJP and RSS. RSS always preaches discipline, control, etc, so these people are afraid of them. This is the only reason.”
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