The 13-day Samathwa Munnetta Yatra (Equality Movement March) led by SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan, the goal of which is to establish unity among the various majority communities in the State, was flagged off from Kasaragod on Monday. The Yatra will conclude at Thiruvananthapuram on December 5 with the announcement of a political party of various majority communities.
Rejecting the charge that he was trying to create communal divide in the Kerala society in favour of the Sangh Pariwar, Vellappally said at the inaugural of the Yatra that it was not against any community but it was part of a battle to ensure the right to live in the land of birth. “This Yatra is being undertaken not to challenge or defeat any community,” Vellappally said.
The Yatra was formally inaugurated with the lighting of the traditional lamp by seven Sanyasis at the specially erected stage near the New Bus Stand at Kasaragod on Monday afternoon. Akkeeraman Kalidasa Bhattathirippad, State president of the Yoga Kshema Sabha, outfit of Brahmins in Kerala, handed over the flag of the march to Vellappally.
The main mission of the Yatra is to highlight the demand for social justice and equality for majority communities. Through a consistent campaign, the Yogam chief has been able to win the support of various backward and forward Hindu community organisations like the Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha, Dheevara Sabha and the Yoga Kshema Sabha for the movement.
“Social justice can be ensured only if all are given what they deserve. The gap between the haves and have-nots is widening. It needs a solution,” Vellappally said, adding that what Kerala had was not democracy but “religiocracy” of the minorities over the majorities. He complained that his outfit was being attacked for speaking the truth.
The Samathwa Munnetta Yatra is being held amidst criticisms from the CPI(M) and the Congress to the effect that he is trying to make the Yogam, organization of lower caste Hindu Ezhavas who constitute over 21 per cent of the State’s population, part of the Sangh Pariwar. The BJP and the Yogam had entered into an informal alliance in the just-concluded civic polls.
Earlier in the day, Vellappally sought the Almighty’s blessings for the Yatra at the Siddhi Vinayaka Temple at Madhur, Kasaragod. State BJP president V Muraleedharan and other leaders were present there to wish Vellappally. The two leaders held a brief meeting at the temple’s office but Muraleedharan asserted that the BJP was not a participant in the Yatra.
Though the Sangh Pariwar has no direct role in the Yatra, the BJP and RSS are keenly watching it and the political party of the majority communities to be born at the end of it. The BJP thinks that political equations in the State could change substantially once a broad coalition of the various Hindu communities becomes a reality under the leadership of the SNDP Yogam.
Vellappally, who stated at the Yatra’s inaugural that the majority communities became weaker when “guests” turned landlords, asked his supporters to take their political lessons from the Muslim league party. He pointed out that the Muslim league with 20 seats in the 140-member State Assembly was now powerful enough to decide on who should rule in Kerala.
The CPI(M), which fears that Vellappally’s efforts could lead to huge losses in its backward Hindu support base, launched a consistent attack against him and the Yatra by alleging that he acting on behalf of the Sangh Pariwar which was determined to implement its agenda of communalism in Kerala.
“By the time his Yatra reaches Attingal (entry point to Thiruvananthapuram), Vellappally’s dress will have changed into trousers and white shirt (of the RSS). At Sanghummukham beach (where the Yatra is to conclude with a grand public meeting), he and his gang would attain Jalasamadhi,” said Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan.
The Congress also stepped up its attack against Vellappally on Monday. State Congress president VM Sudheeran alleged that Vellappally was trying to lead Kerala into the “tent of RSS” while Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said, “Only RSS and BJP are going to benefit from (Vellappally’s) act to promote divisionism in the name of the SNDP Yogam.”