By TCN Staff Reporter
With the death toll at Kollam temple tragedy touching 110, the media attention Kerala has now turned to the bitter facts that led to one of the largest man-made tragedies in the state.
On Tuesday, the Indian Express, through a comprehensive report, exposed how the local Hindu groups had resorted to playing their communal card to get the ban lifted on the use of fireworks. Officials with Kollam District Collectorate told media persons that both the local Hindu groups had attributed communal motives as a reason when Additional District Magistrate A Shanavas and District Collector A Shainamol denied permission for fireworks citing safety reasons. Both Shanavas and Shanimol are Muslims. According to reports, the local politicians and Hindu groups threatened the duo saying they were indulging in communal politics by opposing fireworks.
“Through an order Additional District Magistrate A Shanavas had banned the show on April 8. Despite the existing ban, temple authorities went ahead and disobeyed the orders and held a fireworks show, backed by local political leaders who didn’t want to hurt the Hindu sentiments while the state is gripped with election fever,” told Sham Mohammed, a local journalist, to Twocircles.
According to reports, a senior officer at the Kollam district collectorate said, “A senior minister had called district collector demanding her to change her stand while Shainamol went on with decision to impose ban following a report was submitted by Additional District Magistrate.” The minister, according to the official, even asked Shainamol if she wanted to upset the sentiments of community, to which she didn’t belong.
The primary report by the district administration said that no permission was taken from some of the residents living in the temple premises though some of them issued complaints citing the noise pollution created by the fireworks show that was held in a competitive manner.
Pankajakshi Anandan, an 80-year-old, was one who faced threats from Hindu groups for issuing complaints against the show. “They threatened me consequences if I remain reluctant to withdraw my complaint,” Pankajakshi said while having a talk with a local Malayalam channel. The ban order was issued on the complaint of Pankajakshi.
However, Shainamol didn’t want to disclose much, saying “I don’t want to reveal anything about the unfortunate issue.”
Sangh Outfits Spew Communal Venom
On Sunday morning Sangh outfits across the country woke up to tweets and posts showered on social media while Kerala had a tragic morning. Hash tags said that the tragedy was an act of sabotage by communists and Jihadis in Kerala. “The tragedy has been made by Dewaswam Board, the ruling body of Hindu temples in Kerala, governed by Congress. They have given quotation to Jihadis to destroy the temples and kill Hindus. Few days ago, a Muslim firecracker maker was arrested in Kannur. He is the man behind this tragedy,” said a tweet. Some of the accounts were closely associated with Sangh followers like Subramanian Swamy and Sanjeev Punalekar.
The accounts were later deleted when social media and online media took up the issue. Meanwhile, the RSS leadership distanced itself from the accounts from which the objectionable tweets were sent.