Chennai, Oct 14 (IANS): AIADMK general secretary and leader of opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly, Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) has demanded that the DMK government in the state provide prayer facilities to the Muslim prisoners of Vellore jail.

EPS, in a statement on Saturday said, "Denying the Muslim prisoners their right to carry out their religious duties is condemnable ".

The former Chief Minister said that prisons were not just meant for punishing prisoners but they were also places where the prisoners could be guided to a better life.

He said that earlier prisoners were allowed to worship according to their religion but recently this has been curtailed.

The AIADMK leader said that Vellore prison has places allocated for different religions where the inmates can pray and during festival times, religious leaders reach the jail and perform rituals.

He said that this was the practice during the regime of AIADMK.

EPS, who is also the former Chief Minister, said that these religious practices were stopped during Covid period and religious places were shut down as a precaution.

However, he said that while all the other religious places were opened by the DMK government, only Mosques inside the prison were shut down and called upon the Tamil Nadu government to immediately open the facilities and to provide Muslim’s their worshipping rights.