Satheesan sets ‘conditions’ for extending support to Global Ayyappa Sanghamam

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, on Wednesday, appeared non-committal on the question of whether the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) would cooperate with the Travancore Devasom Board’s (TDB) endeavour to organise a Global Ayyappa Sangamam, purportedly to expedite Sabarimala’s development into an international religious destination at Pampa on September 20. 

Signalling a slight climbdown from the UDF’s earlier hardline position of non-cooperation, Mr. Satheesan seemed to set a few prerequisites for probable UDF support for the event, which the TDB has characterised as an apolitical gathering of Ayyappa devotees from around the world, with an estimated 3,000 delegates, as an initial step towards generating a roadmap for Sabarimala development. 

Listing prerequisites

Mr. Satheesan demanded that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government demonstrate its honesty to Ayyappa devotees by withdrawing cases registered against them during the Save Sabarimala campaign in 2018, when Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Hindu social organisations, chiefly the Nair Service Society (NSS), and Sangh Parivar outfits resisted the administration’s bid to facilitate the entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala in deference to a momentous Supreme Court order. 

He also demanded that the LDF withdraw its affidavit in the Supreme Court, in favour of the entry of women into Sabarimala, terming the written statement submitted on oath a brazen contravention of the hill temple’s ancient traditions. 

Mr. Satheesan also demanded that the LDF disavow the Navodhana Samrakshana Samithi (Renaissance Protection Forum). (The LDF government had created the forum, currently chaired by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan, ostensibly to counter the Hindu right-wing threat to Kerala’s progressive values during the Save Sabarimala Campaign.) Mr. Satheesan also demanded that the LDF disclaim the human chain organised in 2018 to counter the campaign for protecting Sabarimala traditions. 

‘Sabarimala neglected’

He alleged that the LDF had given short shrift to Sabarimala development and pilgrim welfare since it assumed power in 2016. The LDF had squeezed funds earmarked for Sabarimala’s development and used the temple as a financial milch cow for administrative ends. 

Mr. Satheesan said the LDF’s sudden commitment to the cause of Ayyappa devotees and the ancient traditions of Sabarimala on the eve of the local body polls was a sham. 

“The sudden affinity for Sabarimala is LDF’s political gambit to corral Hindu votes after its bid to court Muslim and Christian votes fell flat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the subsequent Assembly byelections. The LDF’s Machiavellian pre-poll machinations centred on religious faith would ultimately benefit Hindutva forces,” he said. 

So far, major Hindu social organisations, including the Nair Service Society and the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, have gestured support for the Sangamam with the rider that the TDB keeps politics at bay and promise to protect Sabarimala’s ancient traditions, primarily the ban on women of the childbearing age entering the temple, and the primacy of the Chief Priest (Tantri)  in religious matters. 

UDF constituents such as the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Kerala Congress have refused to see politics in the Sangamam.