Malayalam poet K. Satchidanandan on Sunday said the ongoing Onam celebrations must become an occasion to uphold the value of equality and remember contemporary issues such as the agitations against the contentious farm laws and the new citizenship matrix.

“Farmers have been engaged in an agitation for their rights. I think Onam is in some way linked to these farmers,” he said, addressing via a recorded video message the Onam celebrations organised by the Calcutta Malayalee Samajam.

K Satchidanandan

Onam is a harvest festival. Satchidanandan referred to how “some Hindus — or those who claim to be Hindus — are trying to convert Onam into Vamana Jayanti”.

Onam celebrates the annual visit to Kerala by the mythological “Asura” king Mahabali whom Vamana — an incarnation of Vishnu — had banished to the netherworld following a conspiracy by the gods who detested his equitable rule and popularity. The Sangh parivar has been trying to refashion Onam as the birthday celebration of Vamana.

Union home minister Amit Shah had wished Malayalis on “Vamana Jayanti” in 2016, attracting allegations of pushing the Hindutva agenda.

“In one way, our rulers are representatives of Vamana,” Satchidanandan said.

He drew on the Onam mythology to allude to the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“This is a time when we are fast losing the values of Onam (equality) and the divide between the rich and poor keeps growing. This is also a time when people fear they would lose their citizenship,” he said.

MA Baby

Kerala Assembly Speaker M.B. Rajesh inaugurated the event with a brief address. “I congratulate the Calcutta Kerala Samajam on celebrating Onam and keeping up with the traditions even while living far away from Kerala,” he said in a video message.

CPM politburo member M.A. Baby said the world needed to work more for equality, which Mahabali’s governance represented and Onam celebrated.

“We cannot forget that we are still not sufficiently utilising the opportunity to bring equality into the world,” Baby said in his video message.

The event included classical dance recitals and music.