Is Global Ayyappa Summit a form of atonement by government for standing by violation of traditions in Sabarimala?: Shibu Baby John

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: RSP State Secretary Shibu Baby John has taken a dig at the Kerala government, asking whether the Global Ayyappa Summit to be held on September 20 is a form of atonement for standing by the violation of traditions in Sabarimala.

"Those who have done nothing for Sabarimala despite remaining in power for nearly 10 years have suddenly decided to organise the Ayyappa Summit in the name of Sabarimala's development. Who are they trying to fool? The Sabarimala pilgrimage will begin in November. Whatever decision is made at the Ayyappa Summit can only be implemented in the next year. By that time, the Assembly election will come and this government will change," he said.

"When the court issued the verdict in the Sabarimala issue, the state government displayed an urgency that it had never shown before. The Pinarayi Vijayan government openly challenged the devotees back then. The government even tried to create communal tensions by mobilising more people from a particular community when they organised the Renaissance Wall. Is the Ayyappa Summit a genuine act of repentance for the cruelties inflicted on the believers back then? Or is it merely an election strategy of the CPM after realising in the last Lok Sabha elections that many groups that had traditionally supported the LDF have distanced themselves from the front?" asked Shibu Baby John.