Kerala : CPM at ‘temple doorsteps’, accepts that beliefs and rituals cannot be ignored any more

Thiruvananthapuram : The iconic dialogues of Sathyan Anthikad movie ‘Sandesham’ that released 33 years ago where legendary actor Shankaradi (who is the party intellectual wing head) is seen advising advising Sreenivasan’s character (acted as a local CPM member) to refrain from going to temples as it is against the communist ideology will reverberate among the CPI(M) party cadres and leaders after the two-day CPM state committee meeting at the AKG bhavan in the capital city where it was decided to party cadres to practice religious rituals and visit temples and other places of worship and also encourage to take the reins of temple management – A decision the CPM leadership had to take take following the recent election drubbing where the party faced a major defeat.

Party insiders and a large section of intellectuals associated with the CPI(M) are of the strong view that the leadership’s averseness towards Hindu rituals and believers reflected mostly in their statements and speeches has backfired the party even in strongholds like Alappuzha, Kannur, Kasaragod and Palakkad.

“The party leadership has failed to come in terms with the changing reality of the society. Majority of the party cadres are believers and they follow their faith. When the responsible leaders themselves make negative comments everyone many not accept it”, said a senior CPM leader on conditions of anonymity.

The three-day state-level leadership summit of the CPM which concluded in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday decided to reverse some of the key resolutions approved by the party’s Palakkad plenum in 2013.

The Palakkad plenum had disallowed party leaders and cadres from performing religious rituals and going to temples. It had also banned party members from being part of temple committees. The decision that “party members should not conduct rituals like ‘Ganapathi homam’ as part of house-warming ceremony” had led to a major debate back then when many within the party had questioned such a resolution.

There was a significant swing in the Hindu votes to the BJP which was detrimental to the CPM. The cracks that appeared in its citadels in Malabar sounded the alarm bells for the party. The CPM has assessed that the Sangh Parivar has tightened its grip over the believers through its closely knitted networks in temples.

“Temples should not fall into the hands of the Sangh Parivar. By offering support and legitimacy to lakhs of believers in the CPM, we think we would be able to differentiate between genuine believers and communalists. Creating a secular faith assumes greatest importance. The party is not against cadres and supporters going to any place of worship. What we have said is that office-bearers should keep away from these rituals”, said a senior party secretariat member.

‘This is nothing but a gimmick’

Various Hindu organizations downplayed the CPM’s new decision to accept the path of faith and be part of temple administration. Kerala Hindu Aikya Vedi state secretary RV Babu who spoke to News9 said that the new resolution is a ‘gameplay’ by the CPM to approach the coming elections as they knew that a large section of Hindu believers in the party had not voted for them in the recently concluded polls.

“The resolution that allows the party members to be part of the temple administration is nothing but a long term plan to enter the temple administration and to destroy the Hindu rituals and turn it as a place that preach the communist agenda. They have been doing it in many places. The new move of the CPM does not have any kind of sincerity and it is purely a gimmick”, said RV Babu.

The CPI(M) state committee feel that the RSS’ influence on matters of faith, temple rituals and believers is the main reason for the right-wing leanings in society and hence the party has decided to ‘educate’ the cadres who are believers.