A short video clip of a child pilgrim who got briefly separated from his father at Sabarimala in Kerala has become fodder for propaganda in the hands of BJP leaders and Sangh parivar acolytes who flooded social media alleging communist apathy towards the Hindu cause, once again sucking the shrine into a political controversy.
The hilltop shrine of Swami Ayyappan deep inside a forest, some 160km from Thiruvananthapuram, has been witnessing an unusual rush of pilgrims with daily numbers crossing a lakh, thereby leading to long delays for pilgrims.
A video clip that began circulating on social media on Tuesday showed a child “Ayyappan” — that’s how all male pilgrims to the temple are addressed as — looking petrified as he looked through the window of a bus for his father.
The 27-second video shows the child screaming “appa, appa” (father) and a policeman rushing to the boy’s help and consoling him. His father appears in the frame in just 13 seconds. The child is then seen waving goodbye at the policeman as the bus left.
Sangh parivar influencers and sympathisers amplified the video clip and screenshots of the traumatised child to accuse the Left Democratic Front government and communists of mistreating the Sabarimala pilgrims in general.
Amit Malviya, BJP national in-charge of its IT department, shared the video clip and commented: “A fearful child’s cries at the Sabarimala shrine will leave you numb…. He was looking for his father, who had gone missing amidst poor arrangement for Hindu devotees…. The Pinarayi Govt wants Hindu Temple funds but gives back nothing. #SaveKerala now or else it may be too late.”
A person named Mr Sinha whose profile describes him as a “political commentator” posted the image of the child with the comment: “Condition of Hindus in Kerala. They didn’t even spare a kid.”
Several such comments along with the child’s image have been shared on X since Tuesday.
Bangalore-based fact-checker Mohammed Zubair has called out the bluff of the Right-wing influencers.
“The kid started crying when he didn’t find his father as the bus started moving. Police can be seen trying to console him. At 13 secs, the boy’s father comes back. Listen to the kid say ‘appa’ on seeing him. At 22 sec, the kids wave “bye bye” to police,” Zubair commented, posting the full-length video of 27 seconds.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan acknowledged the unusual rush, but rubbished the apathy allegations.
“While an average of 62,000 pilgrims visited the temple in the previous years during the (ongoing) Mandala pilgrimage season, the daily average since December 4 is about 88,000…. The total even touched 1.2 lakh (on some days),” he said.
“The government has spent Rs 220 crore in the last seven years for Sabarimala. The KIFB (Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board) is spending Rs 108 crore to develop six resting centres (on the ways to the Sabarimala shrine),” Vijayan said.
