Puducherry Feb 9 (PTI) Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Puducherry V Narayanasamy on Wednesday appealed to the Chief Minister N Rangasamy to break his silence in taking action against those intervening in religious customs of minorities and protect religious harmony in the Union Territory.

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Addressing reporters through virtual mode, Narayanasamy said a girl student of a school in neighbouring Ariyankuppam was asked by a teacher to remove her hijab (scarf) while attending classes. "This instruction of the teacher to the student is highly condemnable and clearly indicates teacher`s intervention in the religious beliefs and customs of the minority community," he said and appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene and ensure a harmonious environment by taking action against the teacher.

Narayanasamy said there were also reports of drills and yoga practices reminiscent of what the RSS was practicising being sought to be introduced in a school in Mannadipet constituency from where Home and Education Minister A Namassivayam (Bharatiya Janata Party) was elected to the territorial Assembly in 2021. The former Chief Minister said the two issues were causing concern to peace-loving people of Puducherry. The Chief Minister should take over education portfolio from Namassivayam if he (Rangasamy) really supports secularism and religious harmony.

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Narayanasamy said that the ongoing unrest in Karnataka over the hijab issue had led to clamping of prohibitory orders there. "Such a situation should not happen in Puducherry," he said and warned the territorial government that the parties in the Secular Democratic Aalliance would mobilise people's support and ensure protection of the rights of minority and religious harmony. He took a dig at the Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan for what he said was her intervention in routine administrative activities. Tamilisai is a full-time Governor of Telangana only and is holding the post of Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry under additional charge. He said Tamilisai was, however, discharging almost every duty that the Chief Minister should execute and she is like a de facto Chief Minister of Puducherry. "Rangasamy should concentrate on strengthening revenue position of Puducherry, development of tourism, restoring the good condition of roads and meeting basic amenities of the people instead of virtually letting the Lieutenant Governor intervene in routine administrative works," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)