Participating in a debate on a Television channel, the spokesman for the ruling ADMK declared that his party’s regime in Tamil Nadu is not ‘atheist’ or ‘rationalist’ but their leader and Chief Minister ‘Amma’ is a staunch believer in Hinduism and protect temples in the State. There is not even any secular pretentions in any of the activities of the ruling party people who thronged temples all over the State performing so many rituals for the acquittal of their leader in the disproportionate assets case.
If sycophancy is the rule in ruling party for getting and retaining posts in this regime, a section of the bureaucracy, which is also facing corruption charges, will only be toeing the same line of the rulers to retain their posts and possibly get promotions. Never before in the history of the State, were the officers of the PWD so openly accused of corruption as now by contractors, who have alleged that 45 percent commission is the unwritten rule for awarding tenders. So they must be looking for a ripe opportunity to please the high command of the regime and seemed to have seized one in the prevailing uncertainty over monsoon rains.
In this background, a surprising but shocking report in the daily “Deccan Chronicle’ on June 5 stated, “In the land of rationalist Periyar, religious fervour is at its peak with even government officials being instructed to pray for rain. Water resource department (WRD) officials in the Cauvery delta districts performed special poojas to seek the blessings of rain god with IMD downgrading monsoon forecast for this year.
Though it is a common practice for farmers and some officials to offer prayers, WRD issued instructions to its official to seek Mother Nature’s blessing by organising special pooja in important temples.
S. Asokan, Chief Engineer of Tiruchy region, WRD, in his instruction dated May 26, 2015, asked the executive engineers to hold pooja in temples in their areas on June 1 to seek blessings to get good rain in the ensuing monsoon season and sufficient storage of water in Mettur and other reservoirs for better irrigation.
“The details of poojas held in temples should be communicated to my office by 10 am on June 2 through email,” the instruction said”.
(Varuna Jepam’, in strict sense, is a popular ritual southern States in which priests and devotees wearing a crown of thorns stand in a water tank for hours to invoke the rain god). Similar circular seems to have been issued in other delta districts also.
Because, special mass prayers were performed at Sri Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur on June 1 for copious flow in the Cauvery so that the Grand Anicut Canal gets adequate supply to meet the requirements of ayacut farmers in Thanjavur and Pudukkottai districts. The PWD, GA Canal Division, had made the arrangements.
Mettur Dam is usually opened on June 12 for kuruvai cultivation in the districts of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam and parts of Karaikal region of Union Territory of Puducherry depending on storage levels. On June1, the water level at the Stanley Reservoir stood at 71.75 feet with storage of 34.22 tmc ft and an inflow of 4,340 cusecs. The GA Canal that branches off the Cauvery at Grand Anicut runs to a distance of 148 km to irrigate an aycut of 2.27 lakh acres in Thanjavur and Pudukkottai districts.
The PWD GA Canal Division officials conducted abishekam and special poojas to deities in major temples along the course of the major irrigation canal on Jun 1. Senior officials participated in the special abishekam and poojas at the Big Temple in Thanjavur while similar poojas were held at the Punnainallur Mariamman temple, Karambayama Mariamman Temple and Palathalai Durgai Amman Temple near Pattukkottai, all in Thanjavur district, and Sri Atmanathaswamy Temple at Avudayarkoil in Pudukkottai district to propitiate gods for a good monsoon and adequate flow in the river.
A special ‘yaham’ was performed at Sri Sanjeevi Anjaneyar temple at Kallukuzhi in Tiruchi on Jun 1 under the auspices of the Public Works Department, for invoking the blessings of the ‘Almighty’ for the timely onset of North-East monsoon. The ‘yaham’ was in glory of Sri Ganapathy, Lord Varuna (rain god), and Lord Anjaneya and lasted for about three hours. “The rainfall is about 60 per cent over and above the normal realisation,” said an official source.
The ‘yagam’ was organised by the Ariyar Basin Division of Water Resource Organisation of Public Works Department. Similar yaham was performed at Sri Mariamman temple at Manapparai and Sri Siddhi Vinayagar temple in Thuraiyur, which are also sub-divisions of the Ariyar Basin Division.
We can understand employees in a government department doing a pooja inside their office premises but a public display in temples organised at the behest of a Chief Engineer of the department is unacceptable and shocking.
Prof. S. Mohana, state vice-president of Tamil Nadu Science Forum, said legal action should be initiated against the WRD official for instructing his subordinates to conduct poojas for rain as it goes against the spirit of the Constitution which makes development of scientific temper one of the fundamental duties of citizens. “We are living in a time when spacecraft are sent to faraway planets to detect trace of water. If we can do it by mere prayer, why do we have to send spacecraft?” she asked.
Article 51A (h) of the Constitution laying fundamental duties of citizens states “To develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reforms”. This applies to citizens and more so to rulers and those in government posts as they swear to abide by the Constitution.
The verdict of the nine member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court presided over by Chief Justice B.P.Jeevan Reddy in the S.R.Bommai Vs Union of India case on March 11, 1994 stated: “Secularism is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution. The acts of a State Government which are calculated to subvert or sabotage secularism as enshrined in our Constitution, can lawfully be deemed to give rise to a situation in which the Government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.….This opinion of us may not be digestible to some for which we are helpless”.
From the time of former Chief Minister of Arignar Anna to now, several government orders banning religious symbols or idols in government offices were issued from time to time. This being the case, the government official issuing instructions to hold poojas, which is a Hindu religious ceremony, is condemnable. How poojas would be conducted if the subordinate official is a Christian of a Muslim?
No doubt that such a circular had been issued by engineering graduates contrary to what they studied is ridiculous. Even a fifth class student will say how rain occurs. Periyar used to say that there was no relation between education and rationalism.
Moreover, the WRD official’s order did not mention the source of funding for poojas. So, the officials will take money only from the local contractors for such functions. It is in a way encouraging corrupt tendencies.
The circulars dated May 26 are condemnable and unconstitutional as government servants can’t be officially entrusted with this kind of job. Moreover such tendencies encourage corruption in government departments. Will this regime take action against such officers or as it is inclined to such irrational superstitions, reward them with promotions? (14-06-15)
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