Date:07/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/07/stories/2008010761070500.htm

Kerala - Kochi

NSS flays government

Staff Reporter

NSS general secretary P.K. Narayana Panicker

KOCHI: The government has no right to interfere in the matters of rituals and faith, P.K. Narayana Panicker, general secretary of the Nair Service Society (NSS), has said.

Inaugurating the 60th anniversary of the South Chittoor NSS Karayogam here on Sunday, Mr. Panicker said deliberate attempts were made to sabotage the rites and rituals followed over centuries. The members of the Travancore Devaswom Board were engaged in severe infighting and a situation had reached a point where the distribution of ‘aravana’ at Sabarimala was disrupted.

The government was attempting to implement unwise decisions in the education sector, he said.

Karayogam president Gopinatha Menon presided. K. Babu, MLA, and M.M. Mathew, Chittoor panchayat president, attended.