Worried over the mismanagement in the conduct of the Nabakalebar rituals, including Brahma Parivartan of lord Jagannath and His siblings, Puri-based RTI activist Jayanta Kumar Das has written a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee appealing to him to hand over the entire Nabakalebar Rath Yatra responsibility to the Centre.“Due to the unlawful acts of the Daitapatis, bureaucrats and the State Government the Nabakalebar festival of the 12th century shrine has become a farce hurting sentiments of crores of Jagannath devotees. The State Government has failed to ensure timely completion of rituals and also in taking action against the culprits,” Das stated.
Das maintained that the many BJD Ministers had witnessed the secret rituals of the holy festival starting from Banajaga Yatra to cutting of Darus. “Prominent political party leaders have used the Nabakalebar festival as a platform to gain political mileage which is unethical. Similarly, State DGP is seen touching the feet of servitors in uniform. So far as the current mismanagement is concerned the State will not be able to ensure a smooth conduct of the ensuing Rath Yatra scheduled on July 18,” said Das, urging the President to hand over the entire responsibility to the Centre.
