Madras HC Slams TN Govt As Karthigai Deepam Not Lit Despite Multiple Court Orders

It's a fight over religious rights - one that has put devotees at the Lord Subramanya Swamy Temple and the DMK government in Tamil Nadu eyeball to eyeball. And today, a massive vindication came for the devotees who simply wanted to light the Karthigai Deepam festival lamp at the Deepathoon stone pillar on the Thiruparankundram hill. The Madras High Court dismissed the Tamil Nadu government's appeal against the earlier order that had allowed devotees to light the lamp at the hilltop - and went a step further, calling the government's plea one that was filed with "an ulterior motive." But the big question is: What is that ulterior motive?
Why would anyone be stopped from lighting a lamp at their own temple? To understand that, you need the context behind this long-running controversy. The Thiruparankundram hill has, for years, been a contested religious site - shared by Hindu devotees and the adjoining Muslim dargah. The hill houses both the Lord Subramanya Swamy Temple and the Sikandar Badushah Dargah. On Monday, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court ordered that the temple administration must light the Deepam lamp at the Deepathoon on Wednesday. Yet, it did not happen.