VS lashes out at ‘Gau matha puja’ in Kerala jail, accuses RSS of ‘saffronising’ prisons

The incident happened in Cheemeni open jail in Kerala's Kasargod district last week.

news Controversy

A day after visuals of ‘cow puja’ conducted in a Kerala jail in the presence of the jail officials surfaced, CPI (M) veteran VS Achuthanandan lashed out at the RSS on Monday.

Accusing the RSS of "saffronising" jails, VS urged the government to take strict action against the prison officials, terming the latter's involvement as "dangerous."

According to the visuals released by regional Malayalam television channels, a swami dressed in saffron can be seen handing over a cow to one of the prison officials, even as slogans of “gau matha ki jai” were raised.

The incident happened in Cheemeni open jail in Kasargod district last week, when the representatives of a Karnataka matha handed over 20 cows to the prison.

Condemning the incident, VS said that such social evils and superstitious practices are practiced at a time when Kerala is celebrating the diamond jubilee of its formation, after fighting against such evils.

However, after controversy over the "puja" broke out, the jail officials denied allegations that gau matha puja was conducted at the jail premises. They said that the Karnataka-based matha had handed over 2 cows to the jail on February 2, promising to hand over 18 more.

“During the brief handing over ceremony the swami raised slogans "gau matha ki jai" and "swami ji ki jai." He lighted a lamp. This is all that happened in the jail. No idea why a controversy is being created now,” a senior jail official told Deccan Chronicle.