The killing of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) worker V Ramalingam near Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district on 6 February this year is a manifestation of the effects of changing demography in the Mayiladuthurai-Kumbakonam region in the state.

Ramalingam was killed by a group of unidentified people at Thirubhuvanam near Kumbakonam after he opposed efforts by a group to convert Scheduled Castes (SC) in his area to Islam. (The case has since been handed over to the National Investigation Agency.)

The Mayiladuthurai-Kumbakonam belt is famous for the number of temples dotting the area but mosques have begun mushrooming now with Muslims settling in the area in large numbers.

Muslims, in particular, have got properties and lands on lease in these places with some of them acquiring them in front of, or adjacent to, temples. This has led to murmurs in the region, which burst out when Ramalingam was killed.

“The change in demography has been in the works for years but it gathered momentum in the last two decades or so,” says a resident at Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam district, where he has been involved in the protection of temples for over a couple of decades. (Mayiladuthurai, or Mayavaram as it was known earlier, is 35 kilometres from Kumbakonam.)

What is happening in Kumbakonam, Mayiladuthurai and Nagapattinam regions, that were part of old Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu before Nagapattinam was carved out as a separate district, is that they have changed with the old and traditional Hindus moving to greener pastures like Chennai and abroad, and with the younger generation becoming tech savvy.

The Thanjavur of yore was famous for its agraharams (Brahmin neighbourhoods) that lined the temples. These agraharams have now given way to palatial buildings and multi-storeyed complexes.

“In this region, 75 per cent of lands and properties either belong to some temple or the two adheenams (mutts) — Thiruvavaduthurai and Dharmapuram. Only 25 per cent of lands and properties could be owned by the people,” says the Mayiladuthurai resident.

Muslims have been given many of these temple and adheenam lands and properties on lease. “The ushering in of the Dravidian rule saw a local Dravidar Kazhagam leader helping Muslims get lands and properties in this region. Then, the Thiruvavuduthurari Adheenam head Sivaprakasa Desiga Paramacharya Swamigal let out the mutt properties for strengthening its finances,” he says.

“The Dharmapuram Adheenam too has leased out the mutt properties but after we all pointed out at the changing demography, the mutt has stopped this practice for the last couple of years,” the local said.

Muslims were brought to the region to help maintain horses and grow betel leaves. The later generation found greener pastures in the Arabian Gulf and they began repatriating money that helped their families to buy lands and properties on lease .

“Today, the families of those who had brought them here are going through a tough period and these people have even attempted to acquire lands behind temples to construct mosques,” says a priest in Kadalangudi, 25 km from Mayiladuthurai.

Those who have opposed conversion of Hindus, mainly Dalits, to Islam, say that Ramalingam’s video has done what even 1,000 meetings of theirs to highlight the demographic change, couldn’t have done.

“There are plenty of problems faced due to the change in the demography,” says a youth in Mayiladuthurai.

Initially, a Muslim manages to get lease of a house in one of the streets surrounding a temple. This is because the younger ones in the house would have moved to Chennai or Mumbai or abroad for a living. Only their old parents live in these houses and they also tend to move out to cities due to age-related problems. In these circumstances, they give away the lease.

Usually, a Hindu takes over the lease and then hands it over to a Muslim. In some cases, Hindus act as front for a Muslim resident. Since these are leases that have only changed hands, some of them still remain in the name of the original or second lessee.