Did you not crack any coconuts today? My pal enquired.
On August 2, 2023, it was. After a break, I returned to Thiruvananthapuram and hadn’t been following the local news. My friend updated me on the situation.
A N Shamseer, the speaker of the Kerala parliament, had made a reference to Hindutva forces substituting mythology for science earlier in July when speaking to a crowd at a school in Ernakulam.
He brought up a case where the Hindutva movement used the Hindu god Ganapathy as evidence of plastic surgery that had been used in India for a very long time.
The pushpaka vimanam, which stands for human flight in this context, was another example that irritated the believers.
The state branch of the Bharatiya Janata Party was requesting the speaker’s apologies by the beginning of August.
In Kerala, the political preferences of Hindus have never been unified under a single party, despite the BJP’s intentions.
What the BJP refers to as the “majority vote” is split between the Communist parties and the Congress because to the large number of Hindu voters for these parties.
Neither the assembly nor the Lok Sabha currently have any elected members from the political Right. It mentions its supporters.
The BJP previously made overtures to the largest caste within the Hindu community in Kerala, staying true to its data-driven strategy for political dominance.
The electoral advantages of such decision have not yet materialised.
The Nairs, Kerala’s second-largest Hindu caste, had exercised caution at the same time and avoided overt support for the BJP.
In Kerala, the Nair Service Society (NSS) is active in the sphere of education.
A well-known characteristic of the NSS is its measured approach to politics, which has earned it respect from even its detractors.
Following the speaker’s words, the NSS also voiced its displeasure, sparking rumours that Right-Wing political undercurrents were at play.
There was a pause between the contentious remarks and the NSS’s explanation of its position.
Some claim that this is because the NSS’s response was compelled by rank-and-file opposition to the speaker’s remarks that eventually grew.
