A day after local MLA M.H. Jawahirullah raised the issue in the State Assembly, people living around Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple hoisted black flags at their houses, protesting against the ban on movement of vehicles in all the four temple car streets.
As the ban was in force for more than one and a half years, the residents hoisted black flags in North and South Car streets, urging the authorities to lift the ban immediately.
Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) National Council member and a resident of Rameswaram, K. Muraleedharan, said the ban order affected normal life and posed great difficulty for aged pilgrims and differently abled visiting the temple.
When Mr. Jawahirullah raised the issue in the Assembly on Friday, Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam replied that there was no government order banning vehicle movements around the temple.
The police might have imposed the ban considering the security threat to the temple, he said.
Superintendent of Police N.M. Mylvahanan said the ban was imposed in August 2013 after the police received specific inputs from the Intelligence Bureau that some intruders might land on Rameswaram coast through sea route and the iconic shrine could be one of their possible targets.
The black flag agitation was instigated by some vested interests and the police had served show cause notices to Hindu Makkal Katchi leader Prabakaran and one Ramakrishnan asking why action should not be taken against them for instigating the stir.
He said on the orders of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, he held talks with stakeholders and allowed the residents to use vehicles. Arrangements had been made for shopkeepers to park their two-wheelers, the SP said. Even two weeks ago, the High Court dismissed a petition challenging the ban after accepting police stand that the ban was imposed purely on security point of view, the SP said. Battery cars were operated for the benefit of aged pilgrims.
