Opinion

CPI(M) blows hot and cold on Hindus as legislature elections near

Statewide resentment over the Thirunavaya Maha Magham ban forces a political volte-face ahead of elections

January 16, 2026

Thirunavaya Maha Magham U-turn: CPI(M)’s political tightrope walk

A state-wide resentment among the Hindus against the decision of the Kerala government to deny permission to organize the centuries-old Thirunavaya Mahamagham (described as South India’s one and only Kumbh Mela) scheduled to be held on the banks of Bharata Puzha river from 18th January to 3rd February resulted in the CPI(M) making a volte face and granting a green signal to the spiritual festival.

The Malappuram district administration had served a stop memo to the organizers of the event, of which the chief patron is Mahamandaleshwar Swami Anandavanam Bharathi, head of Juna Akhada, one of the largest and oldest Shaivite Monastic orders in the sub-continent, established by Adi Shankara in the seventh century (CE)[1]. By Thursday evening, the district collector himself issued permission for the smooth conduct of the mega event.

For 17 days starting 18th January, hundreds of thousands of devotees will throng the banks of Bharathapuzha, also known as Nila, which is the second-longest river (209 km) flowing through Kerala to join the Arabian Sea. The Nava Mukunda Kshetram, one of the Maha Kshetrams in India, adds to the divinity of the region. There is a strong belief that a holy dip in Bharathapuzha assures salvation. One of the most beautiful landscapes in the State, many literary and spiritual works were composed with the Nila as background.[2]

While slapping the stop memo, the district administration had told the organizers that the laying of a temporary bridge across Bharathapuzha to facilitate the movement of the devotees would lead to the destruction of the river and violate the Kerala River Protection Act. But the government officials declined to answer questions posed to them by the organizers about how it would degrade the ecology and violate the River Protection Act.

It may be noted that the Nava Mukunda Temple and two other temples on the banks of Nila fall within the Malappuram district, popularly known as the Pakistan of Kerala. Swami Anandavanam Bharati said that this is proof of the discrimination faced by the Hindus in the district.

Thiroor in Malappuram is the place where Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, the father of the Malayalam language and who authored Adhyatma Ramayanam, was born. The district panchayat and the local self-government institution are adamant that they would not allow any memorials to be built to perpetuate the memory of Thunchathu Ezhuthachan. But they have constructed an ultra-modern auditorium and hall in memory of Wariankunnathu Haaji, the villain of the 1921 Mappila Rebellion, which resulted in the genocide of thousands of Hindus by Islamic extremists.

Many Hindus in Malappuram district have been complaining that they were facing hardship because of the fatwas issued by the Islamists in the district. The latter are tormenting the Hindus either to sell their properties and move out of the district or to convert to Islam, according to a Vedic scholar.

Maha Magham is an attempt to revive the centuries-old Mamankam, a festival celebrated to display the supremacy of the Hindus in cultural, traditional, educational, scientific, and martial arts. It used to draw people from Arabia, Europe, and even Africa to the once-in-twelve-years event. The Maamankam, which was held under the aegis of the rulers of Kozhikode, was obliterated by Tipu Sultan, who unleashed an unprecedented attack on Malabar province, the northern part of the present-day Kerala.

The Mamankam festival’s main attraction used to be the martial arts competition by experts. It is said that the face-off ended only with the death of the loser at the hands of the ultimate winner. These experts could be described as the Samurai of ancient Japanese ballads. But the difference is that the Mamankam warriors were real-life heroes who fought to the end.

Swami Chidananda Puri, pontiff of the Kulathoor Advaitha Ashram, expressed his sadness over the government’s move to interrupt the Maha Magham. “It is a celebration of Dharma and Ekta and an opportunity for the Hindus to express themselves by offering tributes to their forefathers. It is not known how this 18-day congregation would disturb the ecology and pollute the rivers,” Swami Chidananda Puri had told PGurus.

Bharat Menon, the livewire of the event, pointed out that rivers are destroyed when pollutants and effluents are diverted to them. “Nothing of the sort is happening here. It is the sand mafia that is destroying rivers like Bharathapuzha and Periyar. We are not mining sand from the rivers,” said Menon.

Interestingly, Asia’s biggest Bible conclave, Maramon Convention, is held on the banks of Pamba, one of the rivers in central Travancore (present-day Pathanamthitta district). The Church leaves no stone unturned to ensure the smooth conduct of the Bible conclave on the banks of the Pampa River. Politicians are vying with one another to get an invitation letter for the Convention. They can never stand up to the mighty minority communities in India,” said Menon.

The CPI(M), which was mauled in the recent election to the Local Self Government Institutions, has become a sitting duck as the election to the state legislature is fast approaching. The setback suffered by the party in the election held to LSGI is being seen as a snubbing by the Hindus because of the Sabarimala gold scam and discrimination faced by the community on various issues. Since then, the CPI(M) leaders have been on a mission to smooth the ruffled feathers.

The demand by various Muslim outfits for the bifurcation of Malappuram district is being seen as a prelude to the carving out of a separate Malabar state, which would be a Muslim majority State. The CPI(M) leaders inclusing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the party’s Kerala secretary M V Govindan, do not waste any chance to slam the Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami for the 2004 Marad massacre in which eight Hindu fishermen were slaughtered in a fishing hamlet in Kozhikode district[3]. Though the CPI-M had maintained a studied silence all these years about the massacre, its sudden outburst is being seen as a signal to the Hindus in the state that the party was ready to play ball with the community. But the CPI, the poor cousin of the CPI-M, has not uttered anything against the Muslim League or Jamaat-e-Islami to date. The CPI has been described as a political outfit with the capability to sniff “power”.

Though they are weak in terms of cadre strength (the party has more leaders than cadres), the CPI goes by the famous advertising slogan, ‘Where there is Lifebuoy, there will be health.’ The only difference is: ‘Where there is CPI, there will be victory.’

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

Reference:

[1] Row erupts in Kerala over stop memo on preparatory work for ‘Kumbh Mela’ – Jan 14, 2026, ToI

[2] Kerala to Host Its First Kumbh Mela In 2026 On Banks Of Bharathapuzha – Nov 07, 2025, Outlook India

[3] Marad Massacre : The Hindu Massacre by Islamic Jihadis in a Communist Bastion – Jul 03, 2024, The Narrative World

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