Kerala governor Rajendra Arlekar Thursday took an indirect swipe at the CPI(M) and the LDF government it leads in the state over the latter’s recent global Ayyappa event.
The governor was speaking after inaugurating a Navratri event in Kozhikode district on Thursday.
“The people who have been opposing our culture, those who have reservations about guru puja, those criticising Bharat Mata, they all pretend to be Sabarimala devotees. I don’t know from where this culture has come. I don’t doubt the sanctity of their minds. If you really have that sanctity, those principles and the bhaav, come out openly and tell us,” the Governor said during his address.
“This has to be noted. Is this done for political convenience? Bharat Mata and guru puja are not politically convenient for anybody. It is in our blood and thought. We are not politically motivated. It is our culture and we cannot ignore that,” he added.
He said it was a surprise to see some people opposing guru puja in a state so culturally vibrant.
The remarks come just days after the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), an autonomous body that administers Sabarimala among dozens of temples, organised a large summit of Ayyappa devotees on the banks of the Pampa river to draw suggestions for the modernisation of the hill shrine. The conclave was inaugurated by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan who was criticised by political opponents for holding such an event with elections in mind.
{{/usCountry}}The remarks come just days after the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), an autonomous body that administers Sabarimala among dozens of temples, organised a large summit of Ayyappa devotees on the banks of the Pampa river to draw suggestions for the modernisation of the hill shrine. The conclave was inaugurated by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan who was criticised by political opponents for holding such an event with elections in mind.
{{/usCountry}}The Governor and the State had previously locked horns over the usage of a portrait of ‘Bharat Mata’, usually associated with the RSS, at government events. While the Governor defended the usage of the portrait, the CPM government opposed it.
There was also a similar tussle over guru puja. While the State termed the washing of feet of teachers on Guru Purnima by students at a few CBSE-afffiliated schools in the state as ‘violative of democratic principles’, the Governor had said that ‘guru puja’ was part of Indian culture.