Adoor Prakash, MLA, former Revenue Minister, has accused the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of making attempts to destroy the tradition, custom, practices, and the very sanctity of Sabarimala, presumably to protect the commercial interests of certain private players.
Mr. Prakash told The Hindu that the proposal made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at an official review meeting held at Pampa two years ago to keep the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple open throughout the year and the undue interest shown by him for setting up an airport at the disputed land at Erumely, presently in the possession of Bishop K.P. Yohannan of the Believers Church, should be read in this context.
Mr. Prakash said the previous government led by Oommen Chandy had made a move in the right direction to take over all the government land in the possession of various private parties.
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According to the former Revenue Minister, the Rajamanickyam Committee has found that Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. (HML) alone has kept as much as 33,000 acres of government land, the lease period of which has expired, in illegal possession.
The land identified for the proposed airport project at Erumely too was part of this government land that had been illegally sold by HML to Bishop K.P. Yohannan, he said.
The former Revenue Minister said the government should take over this land if it wanted to set up an airport there.
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A conspiracy
“One cannot be blamed for suspecting a conspiracy behind the Sabarimala imbroglio against the backdrop of the Chief Minister’s proposal for keeping the Sabarimala temple open throughout the year and to bring the temple to the pilgrim tourism map,” Mr Prakash said.
The ongoing controversy over the undue haste shown by the government for implementing the Supreme Court verdict permitting women of all ages to Sabarimala and the alleged police high handedness at the pilgrimage centre too should be considered in that context, he said.
The former Revenue Minister alleged that the LDF government had reverted all the right moves initiated by the previous government for protecting the government land, thanks to the neo-pro-corporate attitude of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Legislation sought
He said the government should enact appropriate legislation to take over the 33,000 acres of government land in the illegal possession of private parties without further delay.
The State nod for felling trees in the government land in the illegal possession of these private parties had cost not less than ₹250 crore to the public exchequer, Mr. Prakash alleged.