A board, barring the entry of Muslims to the temple grounds of Malliyottu Palottu temple in Kannur in Kerla during the ongoing festival season, has drawn criticism from several quarters.
The temple conducts a festival every year, and this year the festival is being organised by the Nalooru Samudayimar, from April 14 to 19. However, the board, barring the entry of Muslims, was put up in the name of the Nalooru Samudayimar.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) protested against the temple’s move, saying it would pave the way for communal tension in the state.
“Putting up such a board barring Muslims from entering the temple grounds was unfortunate and unwarranted. Places of worship are sacred places, and nobody should try to turn them into conflict spots”, Times of India quoted Kannur CPM district secretary MV Jayrajan.
Citing the communal tensions in other states of the country, he also said that it doesn’t abode well for Kerala as it has a tradition of people from various religions taking part in the festivities.
DYFI, too, has called the move to be uncivilised, adding that the efforts to bring it back in the name of the religion are a threat to the goodness of the land. It has also said the process to divide people through religion would hinder the atmosphere of harmony on the ground and warned that it could only be resisted by bringing people together.
Muslims here have been taking part in temple festivals as part of customs. But, the move by the temple barring Muslims from entering the temple ground would create a gap in the secular fabric of the land, said the CPM Madayi area committee.
In neighbouring Karnataka, a call by Hindu groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, and Shri Ram Sene prohibited Muslim vendors from putting up stalls during temple fairs held in villages across the state.
The apartheid-like move has impacted the social fabric of life in the state through communal exclusion.
