THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stayed away from inaugurating the 163rd Sree Narayana Guru Jayanti celebrations at Sivagiri on Wednesday.
Instead, he sent two of his representatives, newly inducted transport minister H. D. Revanna and MLC Govindaraju, who is also the CM’s parliamentary secretary.
The Congress leader cancelled his trip owing to the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh.
Revanna who read out his speech said the best tribute anyone can give to Narayana Guru is to live their life based on his teachings. "But the way we can honour and worship the Guru is to stop practising superstitions and stop believing in blind faiths," it said. “People need to simplify religious ceremonies and get rid of the shackles of caste and religion.”
But there was no reference to the veteran journalist's murder. For the first time, a Kerala chief minister also did not attend the Guru Jayanti celebrations at Chempazhanthy as Pinarayi Vijayan was away in New Delhi attending the politburo meeting of his party.
He took to the Facebook to say the Guru was the guide to modern Kerala and wished the Jayanthi be an inspiration for all to create a beautiful Kerala and India based on humanitarian values.
“Guru was an unparalleled social reformer who uplifted a civilisation to realise the importance of human rights in a society that was reeling under the shackles of the caste system and financial inequality. It is a shame to the nation that even 70 years after Independence, there are many states in India where people are crushed under the caste-system and superstitions,” he said.
Ports minister Ramachandran Kadannappally while inaugurating the Sree Narayana Dharma Pracharana meeting at Chempazhanthy Gurukul in connection with the Jayanti said that the visions of the social reformer are essential to face new challenges. “Earlier, Guru was able to overcome the rage of racial supremacy with tolerance and not physical force. We can preserve the very essence of India –secularism –only if we become ready to accept Guru’s visions and culture in its true sense.”
