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Sabarimala: Hindu leaders seek Chief Minister's intervention

Staff Reporter

Call to end corruption in Travancore Devaswom Board

CHANGANASSERY: Leaders of the Hindu community have expressed their lack of confidence in the Devaswom Minister and have called for the intervention of Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan to bring back the glory of Sabarimala Sree Ayyappa Temple which has found itself embroiled in unnecessary controversies.

General secretary of the Nair Service Society P.K. Naryana Panicker, while inaugurating the State conference of the Sree Ayyappa Dharma Parishad here on Saturday, reiterated his call for direct intervention of Chief Minister to bring an end to the corruption going on in the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).

He said the Devaswom Minister expressed his inability to end the evil, which was reflected in his reported statements. Those in the TDB came under the definition of `public servants' and, as such, the Government should initiate disciplinary action, he said. Customs, traditional practices and conventions of the temple were being breached and questioned without impunity and ``non-issues'' were created and ``controversies'' were hyped to maintain these issues, Mr Panicker said.

``Hindu sentiments are being hurt continuously and the Chief Minister and has the right to take fair decisions on the matter and to arrange for necessary mechanism to ensure that such things did not happen in future,'' he said.

He expressed suspicion that there was a concerted effort from vested interests to topple the administrative system, which was in place in the TDB.

``Can you imagine the repercussions of such things happening in the places of worship of other religions?'' asked Mr. Panicker. He said the devotees had the right to ``retaliate such acts of arrogance'' with which the conventions and practices of Sabarimala temple were breached.

Representative of Pandalam Royal family Vishakhomnaal Ramavarma Raja, in his address said the affairs of Sabarimala temple was on a slide for the past many years and ``now it has reached its nadir.''

``We have been informing the Government, the court and the TDB every time conventions and practices were breached,'' he said. The recent developments commenced with the controversial `Devaprasnom'. According to him, the Government had the responsibility to safeguard the interests of the devotees. Mr. Raja was pained at the fact that a centre of worship, which never discriminated against anyone in the name of caste of religion, was being dragged into such controversies.

He wanted a separate administrative mechanism to take care of Sabarimala and related temples and setting up of an expert committee to settle disputes on traditions, practices and conventions. He also wanted to put an end to the selection process of the TDB members and wanted them to be elected from the Temple Advisory Committees after effecting necessary changes in the rules regarding the committees.

K. Gopinathan, former general secretary of SNDP Yogam, in his address expressed suspicion that there was a concerted effort to engineer controversies surrounding Sabarimala and other temples. ``Just see where the tantri controversy started, and where it stands today,'' he said. The sentiments of the Hindu community were hurt and such actions should be perceived as an affront to the believers irrespective of their faith, he said.

He also felt that raising the reservation issue related to the TDB at this juncture was `dubious', as it was an issue which was pending before the court for more than a decade. ``If we are to effect changes, they take their own time,'' he said.

Malliyoor Sankaran Namboodiri lighted the lamp. Chief tantri Kandararu Maheswararu delivered the benediction.

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