THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the chief minister triggered a row by challenging the Sangh parivar narrative linking Sanatana Dharma and Sree Narayana Guru, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said Pinarayi Vijayan’s interpretation would only help the Hindu nationalist organisations.
“The CM linked Sanatana Dharma to the varna system. By doing so, he bestowed the right of Sanatana Dharma to the Sangh parivar,” Satheesan told reporters at Sivagiri on Wednesday.
Sanatana Dharma is a cultural tradition, he said. “It encompasses the concepts of Advaita, Thathwamasi, the Vedas and the Upanishads. Attributing Sanatana Dharma to the Sangh Parivar is like branding templegoers as RSS followers. Sanatana Dharma and the Hindu tradition were misused by priests and kings, and this trend is visible in other religions as well,” Satheesan said.
Satheesan said he does not support Chaturvarnya. “Sree Narayana Guru also spoke about the relevance of Sanatana Dharma. There is no communal element in the concept. The chief minister misinterpreted it. He should not drive Hindus to the RSS camp,” he said.
Sanatana Dharma should remain a tradition of the country, Satheesan remarked.
KPCC president K Sudhakaran, however, had a different take. In his address earlier in the day, Sudhakaran said there were attempts to confine Sree Narayana Guru to Varnashrama and Chaturvarnya in the name of Sanatana Dharma.
“Such attempts will be opposed,” he said.
Meanwhile, CM Vijayan reiterated his stand that Guru wasn’t a proponent of Sanatana Dharma. “A former BJP Union minister had earlier claimed at a public meeting that Sree Narayana Guru was a proponent of Sanatana Dharma. At the same venue, I said his claim was wrong. Sree Narayana Guru should not be viewed as a proponent of Sanatana Dharma. In fact, Guru attempted to rectify it. History is witness,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Acknowledging the popular call to do away with the ban on shirts at Hindu temples, Pinarayi said Swami Sathchidananda had raised the demand in his presidential address at Sivagiri.
“He said the ban should be lifted at temples of the Sree Narayana tradition. I also spoke in favour of the move in my address,” he said.
The CM said representatives of a devaswom board have said they will also adopt it. The decision on lifting the ban is to be taken by devaswom boards, not the state government, he added.
BJP state chief K Surendran accused the CM of insulting Sree Narayana Guru over vote bank politics. Guru was the flag-bearer of Sanatana Dharma, he said.