CPM slams NSS chief’s statement

T’puram: The CPM has come out against the statement made by Nair Service Society (NSS) general secretary G Sukumaran Nair that the government has been trying to promote atheism by destroying Sabarimala traditions.
CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the NSS general secretary was misleading people and acting in cahoots with the BJP that has been aiming to communally divide the state in the name of customs and beliefs.

The move to rally against the government has been aimed at serving the interests of the Hindu Aikya Vedi, which has asked all believers to come together for a second liberation struggle and the RSS, which has been spreading violence across the state, Kodiyeri said.

He said the CPM has been often accused of spreading atheism but the trust of believers in it has only increased.

The Supreme Court had pointed out that all customs and beliefs are subject to Constitution. Even in Sabarimala, several customs that were prevailing earlier have been changed. No protests were raised when the rights of the Mala Araya community to conduct the ritual of bathing the idol with honey and to light the Makara Jyothi were taken away from them. Similarly, the rights of an Eezhava family to conduct the ritual of bursting fire crackers were taken away from them, but nobody objected, the CPM leader said.

Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran said the NSS stand was tantamount to asking the people to engage in violence. Industries minister E P Jayarajan too hit out at the NSS and said it needs to mend its ways. tnn