THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A lottery ticket brought out by the state government has courted controversy with the BJP and Hindu Aikya Vedi taking strong exception to a painting in it that allegedly denigrates Hindu beliefs.
The BJP and Hindu Aikya Vedi alleged that the painting in ‘SK 34 - Suvarna Keralam’ lottery ticket depicts ‘menstrual blood flowing over Shiva lingam’. The lottery ticket, that has `1 crore as the first prize, is scheduled for draw on January 2.
BJP state general secretary S Suresh said the painting was an affront to believers of Hinduism.
Flaying “Communist brains that portray sexual perversion as culture”, Suresh urged believers to launch strong protests against it. Hindu Aikya Vedi president R V Babu said Kerala has been witnessing organised attacks by forces that want to wreck Hindusim by all means. He alleged that the LDF government would have been inspired by the support extended by a few “unsound minds” to such actions.
When contacted, the office of Finance Minister K N Balagopal informed that the Lotteries Directorate would issue a clarification on the matter.
Later in the day, the Directorate of Kerala State Lotteries clarified that no religious symbols were depicted or misused in the lottery ticket. In a statement, the directorate said paintings in the state lottery tickets are sourced from the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi as per an agreement.
‘No specific definition can be given to painting’
“Hundreds of paintings from the Lalithakala Akademi have been printed in lottery tickets. Since the said painting is an abstract one, no specific definition can be given to it,” the statement said. The statement also urged people to refrain from wrong interpretations of the painting and to cooperate with the functioning of the lotteries directorate that is a source of livelihood for lakhs of ordinary citizens.