Balancing faith and politics – The Hindu

KWhen the Travancore Devaswom Board of Directors in September announced its plan to organize the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, a global gathering of Sabarimala devotees, few expected that it would reveal another fault line in Kerala’s uneasy relationship between faith and politics. Long proud of its commitment to rationalism, the Left Front Democratic (LDF) government’s adoption of the language of faith and devotion has sparked a wave of reactions ranging from skepticism and ridicule to outright opposition.

In 2018, the LDF had implemented the Supreme Court order allowing women to enter Sabarimala despite opposition from many devotees in the state. This cost the Left Front dearly in the 2019 elections. By organizing the Global Ayyappa Sangama, the LDF appeared to be undertaking a rebranding exercise to win back the goodwill of the larger Hindu community. But to detractors, the incident seemed opportunistic at best and hopeless at worst.

At the event, a number of social organizations representing various Hindu groups appeared on a public stage with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. There were a few empty seats in the venue, but it was clear that visuals were more important to the government than participation.

For a while, the LDF’s strategy appeared to be working. Political discourse centered around the support provided to the government by key social organisations, particularly the Nair Service Society (NSS). Realizing this, the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) sought to repair ties with the NSS, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the NSS of “turning left”. For some time, it appeared that the NSS, despite internal criticism, was inching towards reaching an informal agreement with SNDP Yogam, another community organization that supports the LDF.

But everything changed with a sudden argument. of idols dwarapalakas or the temple guards and their pedestals at the Sabarimala temple suddenly seemed to lose weight. It turned out that the gold plating on the idols had disappeared. Allegations of theft, manipulated records, and a massive cover-up immediately emerged. The Kerala High Court ordered a detailed investigation into the case.

The full details of the suspected irregularities are still unknown. But the ongoing inventory and expert examination of the Sabarimala temple’s valuables is an important step towards making the management of the temple more transparent. In parallel, the Special Investigation Team formed following the interim report from the vigilance wing of the Travancore Devaswom Board is also conducting an investigation.

The magnitude of the scandal has left many officials of the Board in the firing line, including at least three Board chairmen appointed by the LDF government since 2016. This new wave of allegations, covering nearly 25 years of temple management, has thrown the government off balance just as it seemed to have struck a delicate balance with Hindu community organisations. The controversy exposed the serious negligence of the authorities in supervising the affairs of the temple and also their inability to prevent a web of crimes at Sabarimala involving some TDB officials and some foreigners.

Meanwhile, organizations that once sided with the LDF for the sake of Sabarimala, including the NSS, find themselves backed into a corner. The NSS is grappling with criticism from the grassroots for offering unconditional support to the LDF. Meanwhile, trying to maintain its credibility in the face of growing public outrage, SNDP Yogam demanded an investigation from the Central Bureau of Investigation into all the irregularities at Sabarimala; this was also repeated by the UDF. The NSS has now also called for an impartial investigation and called for “brutal punishment” for those found guilty.

The opposition took the opportunity to allege irregularities by the Board and the government. The Congress demanded the resignation of the Devaswom Minister and the BJP, which was watching from the sidelines, also went into campaign mode.

For Kerala, the hilltop shrine has long symbolized the struggle to balance faith and politics. In the last chapter, this struggle is underlined once again.