A day after Nair Service society (NSS) general secretary G Sukumaran Nair came down heavily on the state Congress leadership for boycotting the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, held at Pampa on Saturday by the LDF government and the Travancore Devaswom Board(TDB) and applauding the LDF government for taking steps to safeguard the Sabarimala traditions, Opposition leader in the Kerala assembly VD Satheesan said community organizations, including the NSS, can take their own decision and that is their freedom.
Speaking to media persons here on Thursday, Satheesan said the Congress has the same stand with all community organizations including the NSS. They can make their own decision and that is their freedom. “If we had participated in the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, we would have been a bigger laughing stock than Pinarayi Vijayan. It was a political decision taken earlier by the UDF. We stand firm on it. We believe that our decision was right. Community organizations, including the NSS, can take their own decision and that is their freedom. We have no objection to it,” Satheesan said.
He further said that the UDF in Kerala has no dispute with the NSS, SNDP, or any other community organizations.
Stating that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was acting as a believer, Satheesan said he was fooling the people and cheating the believers.
NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair on Wednesday came down heavily on the Congress state leadership for boycotting the Global Ayyappa Sangamam.
Applauding the LDF government for taking steps to safeguard the Sabarimala traditions, the leader of the organization of the Nair community, said the LDF government has assured that they will resolve the issue in Sabarimala. “They (the government) also assured us that customs will be protected and they won’t do anything against it. The assurance was conveyed by Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan, with the chief minister’s knowledge,” Sukumaran Nair said.
He said it seems Congress did not want Hindu votes. Maybe they only want minority votes, he added.
Meanwhile, the Congress leadership has initiated a move to pacify the NSS. The KPCC leadership will hold talks with the NSS leaders, it is learnt. The party will remind the NSS that it has taken a firm stand on the issue of faith. Congress sources made it clear that it would not criticize the NSS leadership and will continue to campaign that the CPI-M is playing hide and seek on the issue of faith.