When the State Turns on The Sanctum

What unfolded at Thiruparankundram is not a clerical error. It is not an administrative lapse. It is not even incompetence. It is governance weaponized.

When the Madras High Court is forced to summon the Chief Secretary and the Additional Director General of Police and explicitly record a “pattern of defiance” by the State, democracy has already begun to bleed—quietly, bureaucratically, and deliberately.

Let us call this episode by its real name:

State-sponsored harassment of Hindu religious practice under the garb of secular administration.

A Lamp That Exposed the Lie of “Neutral Governance”

The issue, on paper, was simple: the traditional lighting of the Karthigai Deepam at the historic Deepathoon on Thiruparankundram hill — an ancient ritual, deeply embedded in Tamil spiritual life.

The High Court issued clear directions. The court quashed prohibitory orders. The court even ensured CISF protection. And yet, the State machinery defied it — openly, repeatedly, and  shamelessly. Why?

Because somewhere between the Secretariat and the police barricade, the Constitution was replaced by political convenience.

When Bureaucracy Becomes a Blunt Instrument of Ideology

This is no longer about one temple or one ritual. This is about a systemic pattern Tamil Nadu has perfected over years:

• Temple priests treated like offenders
• Hindu rituals scrutinised like security threats
• Court orders obeyed selectively
• Executive power used to appease one constituency by suppressing another 

Ask yourself:

• Would this level of obstruction have occurred if the ritual belonged to another faith?
• Would officials dare defy court orders so brazenly if the community involved enjoyed political protection?
• Why does “law and order” become hyper-sensitive only when Hindu traditions are involved?

Secularism, as practiced by this administration, is no longer neutrality. It is selective paralysis.

The Most Dangerous Precedent: Defying the Judiciary

Let us pause on the most alarming aspect. This government did not merely inconvenience devotees. It challenged judicial authority. A High Court order was not misinterpreted — it was ignored. A prohibitory order was not misunderstood — it was re-imposed through the back door.

If a state executive can casually override constitutional courts, what remains of democratic governance?

• Is the police now accountable to the law — or to political signals?
• Are civil servants guardians of the Constitution — or foot soldiers of ideology?
• And if courts are reduced to issuing summons instead of being obeyed, who protects citizens next? 

This is not federal defiance. This is constitutional sabotage.

Secularism Cannot Mean Hindu Surrender

Tamil Nadu’s ruling establishment loves to sermonise on secularism. But real secularism does not mean disarming one faith to pacify another. It means equal protection. Equal restraint. Equal respect.

What we are witnessing instead is a structural hostility toward Hindu religious expression, dressed up as “maintaining harmony.”

Harmony cannot be built on humiliation. Peace cannot be enforced through suppression. 

And secularism cannot survive when it demands only Hindus retreat.

The Unavoidable Question: Is This Government Still Constitutionally Legitimate?

When a government:

• Fails to protect religious freedom
• Defies judicial orders
• Allows bureaucratic lawlessness
• Applies secularism selectively 

…it forfeits moral authority.

So, the question must be asked — loudly, unapologetically, and without fear:

Why should such a government continue?

Why should President’s Rule not be imposed when constitutional governance itself is in question? President’s Rule is not punishment. It is a constitutional corrective — used precisely when elected governments cease to uphold constitutional values.

If Tamil Nadu’s administration cannot ensure:

• equality before law,
• respect for the judiciary,
• and protection of religious freedom for Hindus, 

then what exactly is it governing?

Final Thoughts: A Republic Is Not Run on Silence

Democracies don’t collapse with tanks. They collapse when citizens are told to adjust, compromise, and stay quiet.

Thiruparankundram is not an isolated spark. It is a warning flare. If temples can be barricaded today, court orders ignored tomorrow, and priests harassed with impunity — then the lamp that was prevented from being lit has already illuminated something far more disturbing:

The slow, deliberate erosion of Hindu religious freedom under a government that has forgotten whom it serves.

And silence, this time, is not neutrality. It is surrender.