CULTURAL Affairs Minister M.A. Baby has informed the Assembly that a memorial for Chattambi Swami would be constructed in Thiruvananthapuram. However, he didn’t give any assurance that the memorial would be constructed at Kannammoola, believed to be the birthplace of Chattambi Swami.
Replying to a submission by M.A. Vaheed, Baby said the row over Chattambi Swami’s birthplace was a complex issue and would take some time to settle down.
Vaheed had alleged that the Government was not taking any decision on the demand by the followers of Chattambi Swami and the Chattambi Swami Janmasthana Samrakshana Samithy as the birthplace of Swami was now under the possession of a senior IPS officer.
Baby said the notification to convert Chattambi Swami’s birthplace into a monument was withdrawn by the same government that had issued it. ``The issue is now under the consideration of the court. The government wants a settlement without any dispute. The merit of the case is being examined at the bureaucratic level also,’’ he said.
The prayer strike launched by the Janmasthana Samrakshana Samithy demanding a memorial for Swamy has been going on at Kannammoola for the past 11 months.