Kerala temple ordered to stop only saffron-colour decorations

Police have asked the authorities of the Bhadrakali temple at Thiruvananthapuram’s Vellayani to use multicoloured decorations for the temple’s festival instead of using only saffron. The temple’s festival committee, however, alleged that the police were implementing the agenda of the CPI(M)-led government. It has approached the Kerala High Court with the matter.

“This is the CPI(M)’s agenda, which it is trying to implement through the police. When they see saffron, they think it’s the BJP or the Sangh Parivar. If you look at the history of India, you will understand the importance of saffron,” said the committee’s chairperson Bhuvanachandran.

According to police, they issued the notice regarding the decorations considering a law and order situation. They said the festival took place every three years and last time, too, there were issues.

Police further said their temporary aid post was attacked late on Tuesday, and that BJP-RSS workers and supporters were behind this. A case has been registered under sections pertaining to property damage and interfering in police duty.

Kerala BJP secretary S Suresh said the district administration should withdraw the notice issued to the temple committee. “It is obvious that if it is a temple, a Hindu pilgrim centre, saffron is a Hindu flag. They are directing the temple to use multicoloured decorations, which is a clear violation of the Constitution. It is a discrimination towards Hindus and Hindu pilgrim centres. I want to ask the Pinarayi (Vijayan) government if it will issue the same notice for other religious functions,” Suresh said.

The BJP leader further said the act of putting up a temporary aid post by the police, without consulting the temple authorities, was to provoke Hindu devotees. “This time, when the advisory committee of the temple was selected, BJP-RSS workers were the majority. So, they decided to go with only saffron coulored decorations. For decades, this festival has been happening here. Now, in the advisory committee, there are more BJP-RSS members who have decided to go ahead with this. The temple is for everyone; it is not right that it is being portrayed as for one party,” said CPI(M) district secretary V Joy.

Joy said the agenda of the BJP-RSS behind this was to brand temples as belonging to one party. “What is the colour of the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) and RSS flags? We all know what the colour is. They cannot mislead people. They want to create an atmosphere where when devotees coming to the temple see this and understand that the RSS is ruling the committee. That is the agenda behind these decorations,” he said.