Court junks plea to declare Murugan a Tamil god

Court junks plea to declare Murugan a Tamil god

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Madurai:05.02.2021 

The Madras high court on Thursday dismissed a plea urging the state government to pass a government order declaring Lord Murugan a Tamil god.

A division bench of Justices M M Sundresh and S Ananthi observed that seeking to declare one deity as Tamil god would damage the fibre of the federal and secular nature of the country emphasised in the preamble of the Constitution. Hence, the bench said the prayer sought by the petitioner G Thirumurugan, an advocate from Ramanathapuram district, cannot be granted.

Though he has a justifiable reason to refer to Lord Murugan as a Tamil god which was for him to do so, as a state, such a request is not feasible for consideration. The judges observed that the petitioner also cited a statement made by CM Palaniswami referring to Lord Murugan as a Tamil god. However, the reference was made when declaring a public holiday during Thai Poosam festival and cannot be relied upon for seeking relief, the court ruled.

Plea to change Tamil Nadu to Thamizh Naadu

Madurai:

The Madras high court on Thursday directed the state government to consider a petitioner’s representation to change the spelling of Tamil Nadu in English to Thamizh Naadu or Tahmizh Naadu. Petitioner M Selva Kumar, a Tamil enthusiast from Tuticorin district, said the word Tamil is wrongly represented while written in English as the correct representation is Tahmizh or Thamizh. The letter ‘zha’ in Tamil language is very significant, he said. A division bench of Justices M M Sundresh and S Ananthi said though they find some force in the request of the petitioner, they do not wish to get into the discretion of the administration. The judges disposed of the petition by asking the state to take appropriate decisions within eight weeks .TNN