Peeved by government's stance on Shamseer row, NSS considering legal recourse

KOTTAYAM: The Nair Service Society is refusing to buy into the CPM’s attempts to bury the controversy over Speaker A N Shamseer’s remarks on mainstreaming religious myth. With the state government failing to respond to its demands, NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair called an urgent meeting of the organisation’s board of directors and executive council on Sunday to chalk out a course of action.

The NSS leadership wanted either the speaker to apologise for his remarks, which referred to Lord Ganesha, or the government to initiate action against him. The caste-based organisation hoped Shamseer would at least “correct” his statement after CPM state secretary M V Govindan appeared to have retracted his earlier stance that the deity was a myth. 

Further dimming chances of conciliation, the CPM central leadership threw its weight behind Shamseer. The five-member executive council and the 28-member board of directors, the highest decision-making bodies of the NSS, are set to take a decision based on discussions. “We will move ahead with our demand. The meetings will discuss preparations in this regard,” said Nair.

It is also considering legal action. “Several complaints were filed with various police stations seeking action against Shamseer for disrespecting Hindu beliefs. With police ignoring all of them, we will seek the possibility of approaching the courts on the matter,” said sources close to the NSS.

In a further provocation, Cantonment police registered a case against NSS vice president M Sangeeth Kumar and 1,000 other community members in connection with the ‘nama japa yatra’ organised in Thiruvananthapuram as part of its protest. 

The case was registered at a time when the government was delaying a decision on the NSS’ demand to withdraw cases against faithful that were registered in connection with the 2018 Sabarimala protests. The NSS bodies will also consider the organisation’s stance in joining hands with the Sangh Parivar to step up the agitation. 

Shamseer should apologise for his remarks: Union Minister V Muraleedharan

Union Minister of State for External and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan has urged Speaker A N Shamseer to apologise for his remarks against Lord Ganesha. Muraleedharan told reporters on Saturday that CPM state chief M V Govindan had memory issues and that is why he changed his stand.

“The Congress should make its stand clear on the controversy. Will Congress accept it if Shamseer leads the assembly session without apologising for what he said?” he asked. 

NSS should not join forces that try to divide people: M V Jayarajan

The NSS should not join the forces that try to create divisions in the name of religion, CPM district secretary M V Jayarajan told reporters in Kannur on Saturday. “The present stand taken by the NSS leadership is against the high standards set by the leaders who had found the organisation. If they firmly believe in the legacy of their organisation, they should not come forward advocating the case of those political parties which try to divide people,” said Jayarajan. 

Government will not hurt sentiments of devotees, says K Radhakrishnan

The government will not try to hurt the sentiments of the devotees, said Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan on Saturday. He was responding to actor Salimkumar’s comment that the Devaswom minister should be called ‘mythism minister’ and the money received as a donation from devotees should be mentioned as ‘myth money’. The actor posted the comment on social media responding to A N Shamseer’s controversial statement that Lord Ganapathy is a myth. 

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