Not only temple, church too was demolished in anti-encroachment drive in TN

Users claim that temple was demolished during the DMK rule in Tamil Nadu with an intention to target the Hindu community.

"Ancient temple Tambaram Sri Ram Mandir being demolished by DMK govt in Chennai. Yet another Targeted demolition of Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu," reads the thumbnail of the video.

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FACT CHECK:

NewsMeter performed a reverse image search and found a screengrab of the viral video carried in a news report by India Today dated 11 January 2022. The report states that the DMK government faced criticism for the demolition of Sri Rama's Sri Narasimha Anjaneyar Swamy temple in Tambaram. Later Tambaram Commissioner issued a clarification saying that the temple and a few other structures that were pulled down were encroachments. This was done in accordance with the 2015 Madras High Court directive. A portion of the church compound was also demolished, not just the temple, said the Commissioner.

A report by Op India also stated the reasoning for demolition as illegal temple construction by encroaching the Adyar riverbed in Varadharajapuram. The demolition took place after the authorities had sent three notices to the Temple trust.

Another news item published by Ground Report stated that the temple authority requested an extension until April 16, 2022, but was not granted since the demolition was carried out independently. The treasury officials along with the police force headed by the Tambaram Assistant Commissioner visited the site and began to demolish the temple.

Tambaram police have warned against spreading fake news and videos with malicious content. The commissioner warned of strict action against people trying to disturb communal harmony.

Evidently, the temple was not destroyed with the intention to target Hindus, but because it was an encroachment built over a water body.