The Tamil Nadu government has given its assent to prosecute K Annamalai, the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President, for his alleged hate speech. The controversy erupted following Annamalai’s demand for the resignation of Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister PK Sekar Babu over the Sanatana Dharma controversy.During a protest rally in Chennai on September 11, Annamalai made references to an incident reportedly dating back to 1956 at the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple. He claimed that former Tamil Nadu CM and Dravidian icon CN Annadurai was threatened by freedom fighter Muthuramalinga Thevar for his comments on Hindu gods.
In response to Annamalai’s statements, the order issued from the Governor’s office on April 25 cited his remarks as “promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion.” It noted that national publications had published Muthuramalinga Thevar’s speech verbatim from 1956, clarifying that Muthuramalinga Thevar had only expressed anger over remarks made by Annadurai.
Annamalai’s version differed, alleging that Muthuramalinga Thevar questioned Annadurai for speaking ill of Goddess Umaiyaval at a temple event. Annamalai claimed that Annadurai went into hiding in Madurai because of Muthuramalinga Thevar’s anger and that Muthuramalinga Thevar threatened bloodshed at the temple.
RN Ravi, under section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), sanctioned Annamalai’s prosecution under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 153B (b)(c) (Imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 505(1) (statements conducing public mischief), and 505(3) (exception- has reasonable grounds for believing his statement is true and circulates it in good faith).
Responding to the order, Annamalai accused the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) of attempting to erase Muthuramalinga Thevar’s statement from 1956. He asserted, “Our message to the DMK Govt: You can’t stop us from exposing what is what. File as many cases as you want.”