Sitharaman says Stalin govt banned ‘live telecast’ of ‘Pran Pratishtha’ in Tamil Nadu; DMK denied the claim

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday attacked the Tamil Nadu government over reports of its decision to ban live streaming of the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony at the new Ram temple on January 22. Sharing a newspaper report that claimed the government’s verbal instructions to ban special pujas and serving free food in the name of Ram in temples were “anti-Hindu” actions, Sitharaman said.

“TN Government has banned viewing of live telecast of Ayodhya Ram Mandir events of 22 Jan 24. There are more than 200 temples of Shri Ram in TN. In temples managed by HR&CE, no puja/bhajan/prasadam/annadanam is allowed in the name of Shri Ram. Police are also stopping privately run temples from organizing programs. They are threatening the organizers that they will demolish the pandal. Strongly condemn this anti-Hindu, hateful action,” Sitharaman said in an ex-post.

The Union Minister further alleged that people in the state are threatened for organizing bhajans, feeding the poor and celebrating by offering sweets. “Cable TV operators have been told that there is a possibility of power cut during live broadcast. This is an anti-Hindu effort by Indian coalition partner DMK.

On the other hand, the Tamil Nadu government criticized the Union Minister’s statements and accused the BJP of trying to “divert attention” from the DMK Youth Congress in Salem.

Nirmala Sitharaman further said that the Tamil Nadu government was “unofficially claiming law and order issues to justify the live telecast ban.”

“False and fake story! There was no L&O issue on the day of Ayodhya verdict. Not even the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid its foundation stone in any part of the country. The voluntary participation of groundswell and people to celebrate #ShriRam in Tamil Nadu has irked the anti-Hindu DMK,” the minister said.

according to a ndtv According to the report, the DMK government refuted the said newspaper report calling it a “report designed to defame the state government”. The government said it would take legal action against the newspaper.