Madras High Court denies VHP request to change idol-immersion dates

The Madras High Court has declined a plea by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) to alter the dates allotted by police for Vinayagar idol-immersion processions in the Nilgiris district. The VHP sought permission to hold its processions on September 20, a Sunday, to allow for greater participation, but the police had already assigned that date to the Hindu Munnani.

Justice V Lakshminarayanan characterized the dispute as a “game of one-upmanship” between the two organizations, noting they belong to broadly the same ideological grouping. The judge questioned why the groups could not coordinate to avoid placing unnecessary stress on the police and managing the limited capacity of the river.

In a remark regarding the cultural differences between the groups, the judge noted that the primary distinction appeared to be the language spoken by their respective deities, stating, “Your Vinayagar will speak in Hindi, their Vinayagar will speak in Tamil.” The state informed the court that separate dates are historically assigned to these groups to prevent past conflicts when their events coincided.