KOLLAM/KOTTAYAM: The alleged ‘crufixion’ of Sree Narayana Guru on a tableau displayed by the CPM workers in Kannur during the Sreekrishna Jayanthi led to widespread protests by the SNDP Yogam activists in the state on Monday.
The Yogam director board meeting held in Kollam also decided to boycott the CPM leaders over the issue.
Protest marches were held in several places, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and various parts of Kottayam.
Clashes erupted between CPM and Yogam workers during a hartal declared by SNDP Yogam at Kurichy panchayat near Kottayam. Four injured SNDP activists were admitted to the Kottayam MCH and district hospitals.
SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan flayed the CPM and said the party had reduced itself to ‘Judas’ and insulted Sree Narayana Guru.
Mr Vellapally demanded that the CPM leadership should apologise for the heinous act. “Do they have the courage to insult Chattampi Swami or Mannath Padmanabhan in the same manner?” Mr Natesan asked.
He also hinted at forming a political party for the community. The SNDP was ready to help parties which approached it. He demanded action against the CPM workers who had tried to malign the SNDP.
He said the CPM had aligned itself with communal leaders like Abdul Nazer Madani and Kanthapuram Aboobacker Musaliyar.
“The CPM should do a reality check,” he added. CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan opined that the tableau on Guru could have been avoided by the CPM workers.
At a public meeting in Kottayam, CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan said that there had been efforts to ‘kill’ the dharma of Sree Narayana Guru.
He tried to defend the party saying that it had never tried to insult Narayana Guru. “The uproar in the state is against the move of SNDP Yogam for a tie-up with Sangh Parivar,” said Mr Vijayan.
When Mr Vijayan was addressing the rally at Thirunakkara grounds, the SNDP workers took out a protest march on the adjacent road and destroyed the flex boards of the CPM.
In Changanassery also, Yogam workers destroyed the flags of the party. Chingavanam police said cases had been registered against the SNDP activists.
The SNDP Yogam youth movement workers conducted protest marches before the secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts as well.
