Kerala News

Kerala CPI-M Secretary Says Lord Ganesha Is A Myth, Says Every Belief Not Myth When Asked About Allah

August 3, 2023
The Commune

MV Govindan, Kerala State Secretary of the CPI (M) held a press conference on 2 August 2023 regarding the controversial statements made by Assembly Speaker AN Shamsheer. According to Govindan, the Left party does not harbour any hostility towards any religion or belief system. They have consistently regarded both believers and non-believers as integral members of society. However, Govindan accused the ruling BJP at the Centre of attempting to impose a saffron hue on various aspects, including history.

He said, “India is a democracy and as per the constitution, any believer, whether he is a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Parsi or sikh or even if he is an atheist (non-believer), everyone has equal rights. Even our first PM was a rationalist/realist. Unlike Modi who is doing the foundation ceremony of Ram temple or even recently placing Sengol in parliament.” He even suggested that the journalists read Nehru’s books, ‘Discovery of India’ and ‘Glimpses of World History’ to understand better. 

Govindan asserted that the statement regarding Lord Ganesha and plastic surgery was not initially made by Shamseer but by PM Modi himself during the launch of Reliance Hospital in Mumbai in 2014. He said Modi had stated that it is likely that Lord Ganesha’s head was reattached by a plastic surgeon.

Govindan said, “There are many myths floating around. For example, Dashavatar’s prominent avataram, which is connected to Kerala – Parashurama. It is said that when he threw his axe, it landed in Kanyakumari, so the region between Kanyakumari and Gokarna which was a sea, became land and that is Kerala. There is another myth that this land was given to Brahmins. Do you think Kerala was formed only then? Kerala has been in existence for 1000s of years before Brahminism even came to exist.” There is a book written by Chattapi Swamigal that busts this myth. 

He also said that the Hindutva ideology was responsible for what is happening in Manipur, what happened in Gujarat, and now in Haryana. He blamed the RSS, BJP, and even the Congress. 

When asked if Shamseer will apologise or retract his statements, Govindan said, “Shamseer will not apologise nor will he retract/rephrase his statements because there is nothing wrong in what he said. When the country is progressing forward in this day and age, their ideologies are bringing it backward and we are against it.” 

“Such propaganda is wrong. Myths should be treated as myths, history as history, and science as science. You cannot move forward by rejecting science. Our party has people from all faiths, we do not discriminate based on that”, he said.

When a reporter asked whether he thought Lord Ganapati was a myth, he replied saying, “Is ganapati science then? Let us look at myths as myths only. The formation of Kerala is also a myth, right? We are not against believers.”

When another reporter asked if Allah was a myth, he replied saying, “What I said was that all beliefs of believers are not a myth. There are plenty of myths, like I said, the formation of Kerala is also one. Believers can follow their beliefs. They could consider things divine that are presented as divine. We don’t question it. There are myths and those that are not,” he added.

Govindan expressed his criticism of the Leader of Opposition, V D Satheesan’s statement. Satheesan had earlier said that the Speaker’s statement could be misused as a tool by communal forces, and he suggested that it should be rectified or corrected. Govindan alleged that there are deliberate attempts to reshape historical narratives. He suggested that this rebranding of history was being manipulated for political gains in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha election. Govindan also accused the BJP of making use of the NSS’ (Nair Service Society) position for political purposes. 

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