RSS sends contempt notice to Tamil Nadu govt, police over permission to hold routine march

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Tamil Nadu has sent a contempt notice to the state’s home department and senior police officers for failing to grant permission to conduct their route march on Sunday, despite it being permitted by the Madras high court.

Last week, the court had granted permission for route marches in 11 districts and denied it in three districts where the police department had cited inadequate personnel to provide security due to other events.

The state unit of the RSS on Sunday released a statement that across the state, police have not issued permission. “This is contempt of court,” said A Adalarsan, president of the RSS Tamil Nadu (south).

Every year it is customary for their volunteers to march on a parade wearing their uniform during the Vijayadashami festival which coincides with the founding of the right-wing organisation in 1925, the RSS said in its statement. “In recent times, the police have made a habit of denying permission,” said Adalarsan. “Soon, the RSS will hold procession in every district in Tamil Nadu which is our right as enshrined in the constitution.”

In a similar scenario in October last year, the RSS moved the court after police had denied permission for the march. At that time, the state government had argued that they had intelligence reports of law and order disruption following multiple petrol bomb attacks on BJP and RSS members, which were carried out after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the now-banned Popular Front of India (PFI) last September. However, the court allowed the RSS to hold marches in 44 out of 50 locations in Tamil Nadu in November.

This year an RSS worker from Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district, R Thiagarajan had approached the Madurai bench of the Madras high court because the police had rejected his request to conduct a route march followed by a public meeting.

On October 16, the high court passed a common order directing the Tamil Nadu police to issue permission to the march, three days ahead of the event schedules on various dates across the state. Thiagarajan issued a notice to the state’s home secretary P Amudha, director general of police Shankar Jiwal besides other police officers that he may initiate contempt of court proceedings against them for “willfully” disobeying orders.

The state police are yet to respond to the developments.

Meanwhile, police arrested six BJP members for erecting a 45-foot-high flagpole without permission at state president K Annamalai’s house in Chennai stating that it posed a safety risk.

Following the incident at Annamalai’s house, BJP president JP Nadda constituted a four member committee on Sunday to visit Tamil Nadu stating that since their party workers are facing “brutal and irrational behaviour” from the Tamil Nadu government, the committee will submit a report.

“We are confident that this delegation will bring to light the excesses of this government & the gross misuse of power by @arivalayam (DMK) in the last 30 months,” Annamalai said in his post on X in reaction to the formation of the committee.