In a major embarrassment to the local green communist administration, Hindu devotees wore saffron and participated in the Vellayani Temple festival, where the color was banned. The incident happened at Vellayani Bhadrakali Devi Temple, which comes under the Nemom police station on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. Pilgrims turned the famous Kaliyoottu Mahotsavam into a sea of saffron. 

HinduPost had reported how communists and jihadis used Kerala police to try and destroy the temple and its customs and rituals. Saffron flags have been banned since 2017, and this year Nemom police insisted saffron color decorations not be used in the vicinity of the ancient temple. Local Hindus protested by setting up an aid post for police officers on duty using saffron color fabric. 

In the meeting presided over by the Deputy Collector, it was demanded that saffron poles and buntings be removed from the temple. Anil Jose J, the Deputy Collector also the Additional District Magistrate (ADM), directed that decorations should be ‘politically neutral’ and that volunteers should not use saffron color. Police released strict instructions that devotees should not come wearing saffron. 

On 10 February, Nemom police issued a notice informing that a case would be filed against the temple committee secretary Vignesh M S. Nemom Police Inspector sent a message against Vignesh on the instructions of the Deputy Collector. Hindu devotees are unhappy with the proceedings, and their patience is thin.

All the participants of the Kaliyoottu Mahotsavam protested by wearing saffron-colored clothes. Women were at the forefront of the resistance wearing saffron-colored blouses, sarees, and churidars. Men came to participate in the procession dressed in saffron dhotis. Hindu children and teenagers, too, partook in sporting saffron clothes. 

The incident reminded many of the Sabarimala resistance that saw women take the lead against a brutal Marxist regime. That the communists later apologized and Keralites forgave them is another matter. Now, the same Hindu voters have to bear the burden, and the atrocities against Hindus continue.

BJP lost the Nemom constituency to the rabidly anti-Hindu communist leader V Sivankutty in the 2021 assembly elections. He is now the education minister who plans to feed beef to all school-going children, Hindus included. Political experts opined that we get the leaders we deserve, not the ones we need.

Pandals made of saffron cloth were used for the festival. Initially, Hindu volunteers thought that the ban was imposed on plastic flags and had arranged for decorations made of fabric. They soon realized that the ban was not on the material, but the color was the issue! They began protesting ever since, but the administration seems adamant about an iron curtain.

Former DGP Jacob Thomas and others protested on social media. They mentioned that it was highly disrespectful for the government to interfere in the ritual followed by the temple for centuries. He asked whether any particular color is prohibited in festival decorations used at Churches, Temples, Mosques, and Gurudwara premises. 

BJP leader Adv S Suresh asked whether this color ban applies to the color green. He asked if Kerala was in Syria or under Taliban rule. The leader from Thiruvananthapuram alleged that we were under Sharia Law and asked whether we have jihadi Police in Kerala?

Vellayani Bhadrakali Devi Temple is located near the Vellayani Lake, and the two-month festival attracts lakhs of Hindu pilgrims. The Marxist-run Devaswom Board ‘manages’ the temple. There are allegations that the communist leaders are trying every dirty trick to destroy communal harmony in the area. 

CPM workers, Hindu In Name Only (HINO) members of the governing committee representing the Devaswon board have destroyed the rituals and customs of the Vellayani Devi temple on multiple occasions. Unless the central government and District Collector Geromic George IAS step in, the situation might go from bad to worse. 

There are allegations that the now leaderless jihadis, following the Popular Front of India (PFI) ban/arrests, are working independently. They aim to keep the communal pot simmering until the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and take it even further. Are the communists now openly aiding them?