Palakkad: The disruption of Thrissur Pooram could have been planned and the police should investigate the people behind it, said K Radhakrishnan, Minister for Devaswoms and LDF candidate in Alathur Lok Sabha constituency.
The minister said that there are allegations that police imposed some restrictions which affected the movement of devotees and disrupted the fireworks. "But the police should investigate who were the people who arrived there at that time. Some developments appeared as if they were planned. Police should get into the details," he told Onmanorama while campaigning in Vadakkencherry grama panchayat in Tarur Assembly segment.
On BJP and RSS leaders' allegations that the display of Ram Lalla's images during the Kudamattam ritual could have provoked the disruption of Thrissur Pooram, Radhakrishnan said there was no dispute over it.
"I was there till Kudamattam. Police are also unaware of it," he said.
"In truth, there should be no exhibition which could affect communal harmony," said Radhakrishnan, who is from Thrissur district and a regular at Thrissur Pooram, the festival celebrating the meeting of deities of 10 temples.
"Last year, they said they would conduct Kudamattam in a different way and made the exhibits. We intervened when we came to know of it," he said. "This time the exhibits were made clandestinely," said the minister.
There is an air of secrecy around Kudamattam, a competitive ritual where decorated parasols are displayed atop decked-up elephants in participating temples. "So we cannot intervene early. We come to know of the exhibits only when they are displayed during Kudamattam," Radhakrishnan said.
Offerings and festivals such as Pooram and church feasts are celebrated to send a good message to society. "We cannot endorse something which sends out a counter message," he said.
In many places in Kerala, faiths and gods are being used to serve narrow political interests, said the Minister for Devaswoms. It is easy to mislead people in the name of faiths and gods, he said.
"The easiest avenues for it are events such as Pooram... They identify a subject which will help mislead people and then creating the atmosphere to spread misunderstanding... The talk is not about basic amenities or basic problems," he said.
