Politics of religion sadly triumphs over logic in Kollam temple fire aftermath

The smoke hasn’t yet cleared of the Kollam tragedy and the state of Kerala is all set to mark the Thrissur Pooram that is scheduled for April 17. Thrissur Pooram is an annual festival held at the 1,300-year-old Vadakkunnathan temple (a UNESCO World Heritage site) in Trissur, also known as the cultural capital of Kerala.

There were uncertainties in the wake of the Kollam tragedy whether the Pooram would indeed be held this year. But a series of deft manoeuvres by the state government and the efforts of the pressure groups ensured that it would go ahead.

How Thrissur Pooram of 2016 was almost denied

On Monday, April 11, a day after the Kollam tragedy, justice V Chidambaresh of the Kerala High Court had written to the chief justice to press for a ban on high-decibel firecrackers. It was converted into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and was heard on April 12, resulting in the high court passing an interim order banning high-decibel firework displays "between sunset and sunrise", putting the holding of Thrissur Pooram under threat.  

Compounding matters further, principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden of Kerala issued a circular the next day (April 13) instructing strict guidelines including a restriction on parading elephants from 10am to 5pm. Other instructions consisted maintaining a belly-to-belly distance of three metres when the pachyderms are lined up for "Kudamattom" (changing of parasols), one of the main attractions of the Pooram.

A joint committee of Devaswoms (translated to property of God - a body of government nominated officials or a private trust tasked with running a temple) met the same night and passed a resolution to cancel the processions and go ahead with a token festival comprising a solitary elephant. The temple committees of the ten temples that make up the Paramekkavu and Thiruvambady sides, the principle participants of the spectacle, too expressed their solidarity. The same day, the archbishop of Trissur issued a statement and came out in support for the Pooram, calling it a part of Thrissur’s identity.

The next day, on April 14, a protest meeting was held in Thrissur, along with a one-day fast to put pressure on the state government. It was inaugurated by the archbishop himself with politicians and prospective legislators (state elections are just a month away) of all parties in attendance. A banner that was installed there read: "Don’t come asking for votes, if you can’t hold the Pooram."

Sensing an opportunity, the Kerala unit of the BJP and its president, Kummanam Rajasekharan raised conspiracy theories alleging that the Congress-led UDF government was trying to put an end to the famous Thrissur Pooram by enforcing various restrictions on the annual celebrations of the temple festival.

A political Vishu

April 14 was also the day of Vishu, a festival marking the Malayalam new year. But it was a hectic day of politics. For the politicians, it meant activity on multiple fronts. By mid-morning, forest minister Thiruvanchoor Ramakrishnan announced that the circular issued by his department officials a day earlier stood withdrawn.

An all-party meeting was scheduled at 2pm, originally to bring about a consensus on the issue of banning fireworks. However, the matter of Thrissur Pooram became the main agenda,  since the high court was to reconvene for a special sitting at 4pm and take up the case of Pooram among other things in the PIL of J Chidambaresh.

The high court heard all the sides on the issue of holding the Pooram and gave a hint on the possible outcome when it observed that the Pooram celebrations were a part of the social and cultural ethos of Kerala.

The Devaswoms managed to become parties to the matter too. After the advocate general pointed out to the exemption granted by the Supreme Court in 2007, and after hearing all the sides, the high court division bench of justice Thottathil B Ramakrishnan and Anu Shivaraman passed an order that allowed the Pooram festival to go on, with fireworks not to exceed 125 decibels (as specified in the 2007 SC order), without the use of any banned chemicals, and also in consonance with the 2008 explosives rules.

The high court also accepted the state’s plea to allow the crime branch, CID to carry on with the probe under the supervision of the court, rather than handing the case over to the CBI as that would delay the probe by at least a week due to the procedural issues involved. All the obstructions to holding the Pooram had fizzled out.

Politicisation of Kollam tragedy

Even as these events unfolded, the politicisation of the Kollam tragedy was going on. The CPM general secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan demanded the resignation of home minister Ramesh Chennithala citing the failure of his department and the LDF’s chief ministerial Candidate Pinarayi Vijayan echoed it in the election season.

The CM, Oommen Chandy immediately ruled it out and demanded to know why Balakrishnan had not resigned in the wake of the Thekkady boat tragedy in 2009, when he was the home minister.

Blame games: IAS vs IPS in Kerala

There were reports going around that the state government was unhappy with Kollam collector A Shainamol for going public with her statements faulting the police.

On the morning of April 14, home secretary Nalini Netto submitted a report to the home minister of Kerala recommending action against the Kollam city police commissioner, P Prakash, assistant commissioner of Chathannoor - who wrote a letter to the commissioner recommending that permission to hold the fireworks display be granted two days after the police had recommended against it - and the circle inspector Chandrakumar and sub-inspector Justin John of the Paravur Police station. She also reportedly gave a clean chit to the Kollam district collector and the additional district magistrate (ADM).

The same day, home minister Chennithala sought another report from the Director General of Police (DGP), TP Senkumar on the issue. The report submitted by the DGP puts the blame squarely on the district administration for not preventing the tragedy. The reasons he has cited include the ADM coming up with his order only a day prior to the event and not publicising it enough through the media to prevent people coming in such large numbers.

This has led to the home secretary complaining to the chief minister about the home minister bypassing her and seeking an order from the DGP even after she had submitted her report after consulting with the DGP and the ADGP, intelligence. This has also led to allegations that the government is trying to protect the police officers who appear to be at fault. In the days to come, we might get to know more things.

Mitigation

In the end, the people of Kerala, in general, and of Thrissur, in particular, are rather relieved that the Pooram would indeed go on. In its 218 years of existence, only thrice has it been affected.

The Pooram is thoroughly secular in nature despite it being associated with a temple festival and witnesses the participation of all communities with the active involvement of the church and the laity in the preparation of the sequinned umbrellas used in "Kudamattom" and the "Pandal" works crafted by the Muslim community.

Even foreigners visit Thrissur for this grand spectacle and despite instances of minor accidents, the Pooram is something that is rather well-planned and executed. Here’s hoping that the Pooram goes on without any glitches and unites people as it always does, especially in the aftermath of the horrible tragedy in Kollam.