The Kerala CPI(M) has enraged a large section of Hindus, who have traditionally been known as its supporters, by displaying a float in which social reformer and spiritual leader Sree Narayana Guru was shown as being crucified by a particular majority community outfit and the Sangh Pariwar. The float was displayed in one of the controversial processions the party had held in the State on the Sree Krishna Jayanti day, Saturday.
The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), the powerful organization of Hindu lower caste Ezhavas which follows the Guru's teachings, on Monday registered strong protests against the CPI(M)’s act by likening the party to Judas. Other pro-Hindu outfits and even well-wishers of the CPI(M) also have launched attacks against the Marxists over the 'crucifixion'.
"This is a deliberate attempt to humiliate the Guru. The intention is to destroy the Ezhava community. Will the CPI(M) show the same boldness to depict other reformers like Mannathu Padmanabhan (of the Hindu upper caste Nairs)IJ The CPI(M) has reached such a state where it would do anything to grab power," SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan said.
Realising the gravity of the situation, the leadership of the CPI(M) offered a limited apology to Keralites in general and the offended followers of the Guru in particular with State party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan admitting that the party unit which was responsible for the procession in which the float was presented had failed to be cautious about after-effects.
The CPI(M)'s serious error has come to light just when it is being criticised by friends and foes alike for holding hundreds of cultural processions across the State on the Sri Krishna Jayanti day. While foes accused the party of trying to create provocation, allies like the CPI criticized it for mixing spirituality and dialectical materialism, the guiding philosophy of Marxists everywhere.
The float, which formed part of the cultural procession organised in Thalipparambu, Kannur, on Saturday by a CPI(M)-linked local club, showed a person clad like Sree Narayana Guru being crucified by two men, one with yellow turban (symbolising SNDP) and another with saffron turban (symbolising the Sangh Pariwar).
"The intention was to show how the Sangh Pariwar, which has of late been trying to appropriate Sree Narayana Guru as Hindutwa property, and the SNDP which now seems to be showing an urgency to ally with the RSS and BJP, were killing his teachings. But it seems the effort has turned out to be counter-productive," admitted a senior CPI(M) leader from Thalipparambu.
Kodiyeri claimed that the party had not humiliated Sree Narayana Guru through the float but admitted that there had been lapses on the part of the concerned party unit in permitting the display of such a float. He charged the SNDP leadership, which was leading the attack against the CPI(M), with efforts to find justification for its "unholy alliance" with the BJP-RSS.
Reports from Kannur, Kerala's Marxist capital where the incident took place, indicated that the depiction of Sree Narayana Guru's crucifixion in the Sri Krishna Jayanti procession had caused huge embarrassment among even the staunch supporters of
the CPI(M). Sensing trouble, the district CPI(M) leadership has promised to look into
the matter.
"Everything is going the wrong way for the party these days. It is not yet clear who had come up with this idea of holding processions on the Sri Krishna Jayanti day. It is yet to be known how floats like the one on the Guru could form part of the procession without clearance from the leadership," said a former Kochi-based Marxist theorist.