T’PURAM/KOTTAYAM: Bracing up for the global Ayyappa Sangamam amid opposition from political rivals, the Congress and the BJP, the state government received a shot in the arm on Friday with the vice-president of the influential Nair Service Society (NSS), N Sangeeth Kumar, extending “full support” for the event.
However, the NSS’s all-powerful general secretary G Sukumaran Nair chose to pursue a cautious ‘wait and watch’ approach, saying the organisation did not want to comment on the meet at this juncture. Though he refrained from rejecting the Sangamam outright, Nair did not endorse it either.
“The NSS welcomes any initiative that would protect the rituals and customs (at Sabarimala). However, we do not want to comment on the meet at this juncture. We shall take a stand, depending on how things work out,” he told TNIE.
Sangeeth might have made the remarks in his capacity as a leader of Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangam, rather than as an NSS representative, he said.
Vice-prez: NSS has complete confidence in government
Earlier, talking to media in Thiruvananthapuram, Sangeeth said, “The NSS has complete confidence in the government, and we have no differences of opinion in the conduct of the meet (being organised by the Travancore Devaswom Board). Such a global gathering will be a platform for Sabarimala’s development and to address difficulties faced by the pilgrims.”
Protection of faith is prominent among NSS’s agenda, and the state government is bound to support it. “In the very first meeting itself, the government had given an assurance in this regard. We have faith that the government would conduct the meet, in accordance with all the prevailing rituals and beliefs,” Sangeeth added. He chose not to respond to criticism from different corners against the meet.