Thiruvananthapuram, 29 August : Keralites celebrated Onam, the “National Festival” of the State sans the usual gaiety and fervour associated with the annual harvest festival. But the CPI-M-led Kerala Government has made elaborate arrangements to impress upon the people a feel-good factor. The week is being celebrated as Tourism Week and what we see is a kind of State-sponsored Carnival across Kerala. There is nothing to celebrate here as the Hindus feel unwelcome and uninvited,” said PNS Namboodiri, a social and cultural activist based in Etumanoor.
It is the Vamana Jayanthi in North India that is masqueraded as Onam in Kerala. Though there are Vamanamurthy Temples in the State, there is not a single temple dedicated to the memory of Mahabali, in whose memory Onam is celebrated. Mahabali, said to have ruled Kerala when there was no such State existed, visits his kingdom once in a year and it is this occasion which is being celebrated as Onam. Even the Thrikkakkara Appan made out of clay and mud to celebrate Onam represents Vamana Murthy, who reportedly sent Mahabali to nether world. Over the centuries, the event is held to mark the defeat of “Dalit” Mahabali by the Savarna Fascist Vamana, one of the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu.
Organisers of Onam portray Mahabali as a comedian and he reminds one of a buffoon. A big moustache, pot-belly and foolish utterances are the hallmarks of Mahabali, as made out by the Left intellectuals. The tolerant Hindus suffer this too silently though there are protests galore across the State over the degradation of Mahabali.
The Kerala Government, facing the biggest financial crisis in its history, has not doled out salary or pension to the serving government staff and retired employees. Though the CPI-M led government had made tall claims about the disbursal of Onam Kits (consisting of provisions for an average family to prepare Onam feast), people are yet to get the same.
“This is all what we could do under the present condition,” said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan while inaugurating one of the State sponsored entertainment programmes at the capital city. The Marxists are waiting for the day of revolution and uprising by the working class to seize power in New Delhi for creating a classless and casteless society. An attempt was made by the Kerala Government for the realization of the revolution on Monday when the State-owned Kerala State Beverages Corporation, the monopoly liquor outlets sold spirits worth Rs 160 crore on Monday alone. “Previously, the ushered revolution through the barrels of guns. Now the same is ensured through liquor,” said Namboodiri.
