Claim
JCOs came with cops this morning to Samayapuram Amman Temple, Trichy Malaikottai temples to evict the existing Brahmin priests and have appointed new priests. Evicted priests left with tears.
Rating
Explanation
Chief Minister M.K.Stalin presents appointment orders to 58 priests under the scheme ‘People from any castes can be priests’. In this situation, a social media post claiming that the existing priests were replaced with the newly appointed priests is viral now.
Asianet Tamil article claims that a video of a Brahmin priest talking about evicting them from temples is viral.
What is the Truth?
When we searched for the viral tweet from the account ‘Bushindia’, the posts were unavailable since they were deleted. The BJP member’s Twitter post says, “The posts related to priests were removed since the investigation of the case appealed by the affected Gurus and Sivacharyas is expected to be on August 18”.
A Twitter user ‘Kavitha Muralidharan’ has replied to another tweet of ‘Bushindia’, “The picture posted along with this tweet was taken from my article which was published three years back. The old person is the one who got attacked by Sanadhana followers for coming forward to teach Agama rules to the students who wish to become priests”.
இந்த டுவீட்டில் உள்ள புகைப்படம் 3 வருடங்களுக்கு முன்பு வெளியான என் கட்டுரையில் இடம் பெற்றிருந்தது. அர்ச்சகர் பயிற்சி பெற விரும்பிய மாணவர்களுக்கு ஆகம விதிகளை சொல்லி தர முன் வந்ததால் சனாதனவாதிகளால் தாக்குதலுக்கு உள்ளான முதியவர் அவர்.https://t.co/MhUcPXeiBO pic.twitter.com/8MXmgKo6us
— Kavitha Muralidharan (@kavithamurali) August 16, 2021
The post was removed once he found that they are old and irrelevant. Additionally, an explanation is also given by him.
We spoke to the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Hindu Religious Affairs, Arulmigu Thayumanaswamy Temple, Trichy Malaikottai to fact-check if the existing priests were evicted. He reported, “No such incident happened in the Malaikottai region. They were appointed for the vacant jobs instead. Posts claiming that the existing priests were evicted with the help of cops is completely false”.
#JUSTIN | “அனைத்து சாதியினரும் அர்ச்சகர் ஆகலாம் திட்டம் மூலம் காலிப்பணியிடங்கள் மட்டுமே நிரப்பப்படுகிறது; யாரையும் பணியில் இருந்து நீக்கிவிட்டு நியமனங்கள் மேற்கொள்ளப்படுவது இல்லை”
– திமுக எம்.பி கனிமொழிhttps://t.co/WciCN2AH8n | #DMK | @KanimozhiDMK | #PriestOfAllCaste
— News7 Tamil (@news7tamil) August 16, 2021
DMK MP Kanimozhi commented on this chaotic issue, “The vacant positions are being filled under any caste people can become priest scheme. And no existing priests will be removed from their jobs”.
Sekar Babu, Minister of Hindu Religious Affairs clarified to the media that the existing priests will not be evicted.
Conclusion
The social media posts claiming that the existing priests in temples of Tamil Nadu were evicted and replaced with 58 new priests appointed by the TN government is untrue. Tamil Nadu government has clarified that new priests are being appointed but existing priests will not be evicted.
Additional Information
From the interview of Minister Sekar Babu to the media, “as far as the Ministry of Hindu Religious affairs is concerned, we do not have any idea of evicting Battacharyas or priests from any temples. Even while appointing new priests, existing aged priests were also asked to continue their jobs. It is advised to the public to bring it to our notice if any of the existing priests are evicted while appointing the 58 new priests so that alternate job will be provided to the evicted priest.
In the issue at Naganadha Swamy temple, a job for a priest seems vacant. Muthukumar was the temporary priest in this temple since June 30. He is also working temporarily as a priest in the Tharukaneshwar temple. In this scenario, a priest is newly appointed to the vacant position in Naganadha Swamy temple. It is not wrong to appoint a new priest to a vacant position replacing the priest who is already holding two jobs”.
