A case was lodged against Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, former Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party chief K Annamalai, and organisers of the Lord Murugan Devotees Conference on June 22 in Madurai. The case filed at the E3 Annanagar Police Station mentions violations of the Madras High Court's order on political and religious speeches made at the high-profile spiritual conference.
The complaint, according to the Madurai police, was made by S Vanjinathan, an advocate and coordinator, Madurai People's Federation for Communal Harmony. He said that the speeches and resolutions made at the event promoted communal hatred and went against conditions imposed by the Madras High Court, which had allowed the event under strict restrictions on religious and political communication.
The case — Crime No 497/2025 — was lodged under sections 196(1)(a), 299, 302, and 353(1)(b)(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The accused persons named are Kadeshwara Subramaniam, Hindu Munnani president, S Muthukumar, its state secretary, Pawan Kalyan, Annamalai, and RSS, BJP, Hindu Munnani, and other allied Sangh Parivar organiser members.
Police officials quoted here said the speeches and cyber material at the event contained language that "incited hatred between groups on the basis of religion, race, and region" and "offended the religious sentiments" of other groups. The FIR also accuses public statements and conduct at the venue of being "designed to cause disharmony in the name of spiritual gathering."
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Organised in great pomp and show on a stage bordered by models of the six sacred abodes (Arupadai Veedu) of Lord Murugan, the convention had witnessed unprecedented crowds, with Hindu Munnani boasting of more than one lakh devotees witnessing it. While the Madras High Court had strictly prohibited political content at the conference, some speakers like Pawan Kalyan had made political speeches disguised under a spiritual theme.
Wearing a green veshti associated with Murugan worship traditionally, Pawan Kalyan struck directly at what he described as "fake secularists" and atheists. "Secularism has turned out to be a guise for some to insult Hindu gods," he stated. "I have respect for Christianity and Islam, but not Hindu Dharma."
He referred to Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar as an "incarnation of Lord Murugan" and condemned political leaders for raising the question of why a Murugan conference was organised in Tamil Nadu. The conference also adopted six resolutions, one of which called on Hindus to vote in a block in the coming Assembly elections, and another calling on the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government to desist from "treating temples as revenue sources."
Former BJP state chief Annamalai, also named in the FIR, declared that the conference’s success showed that “people have chosen ‘Swami’ over ‘Nidhi’ — a veiled jab at political rivals. Although the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ally, AIADMK, officially remained silent on the event, four of its senior leaders, including RB Udhayakumar and Sellur K Raju, attended the conference.
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