‘Centre hurts followers of Narayan Guru’

Former minister B. Ramnath Rai said here on Sunday that the central government has hurt the sentiments of the reformer’s followers by rejecting the tableau of the Kerala government’s social reformer Sree Narayana Guru for the Republic Day parade.

Talking to reporters, Mr Rai said that Narayan Guru fought for the welfare of downtrodden and marginalized sections of the society and worked for their empowerment. Apart from Kerala, his followers are spread over Dakshina Kannada and other parts of Karnataka.

Rejecting the Kerala government’s tableau of Narayana Guru, he said, it is tantamount to devaluing the downtrodden and marginalized sections of the society by the central government. He said that the Congress would fight to restore the pride of Narayan Guru and his followers.

Udupi Pradesh Congress Committee President Ramesh Kanchan said that this incident has shown the true colors of the central government towards the deprived sections of the society. He claimed that the BJP government at the Center was continuing the policy of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which had opposed Narayan Guru in the past.

The treasurer of the Kudroli Gokarnath Temple, established by Narayan Guru, R. Padmaraj said the injury caused to the followers of Narayana Guru is due to the central government asking the Kerala government to replace the reformer’s idol with the one of Shankaracharya. Proposed by the Government of Kerala in the Republic Day Parade. “It would not have hurt us if the central government had simply rejected the proposal of the Kerala government. But rejecting the tableau of the Kerala government because they had not replaced Narayan Guru with the tableau of Shankaracharya in the tableau on women empowerment is not the right decision.

In a statement, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Dakshina Kannada said that the central government has disregarded the principle of religious equality and is supporting the majority community.