Implement Puri seer advice: Opposition

TNN | Jun 18, 2014

BHUBANESWAR: With June 29 Rath Yatra in Puri drawing closer, opposition Congress and BJP on Tuesday mounted pressure on the state government in the assembly to implement Puri Sankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati's recommendation for blanket ban on pilgrims atop chariots during the nine-day festival.

Congress legislator Taraprasad Bahinipati raised the issue during zero hour and urged the speaker to allow a discussion on the topic. Leader of opposition Narasingha Mishra sought the speaker's intervention for an all-party meeting. "The issue is going to snowball into a major controversy. The speaker should allow the house to debate the issue and convene an all-party meeting to resolve the crisis," Mishra said. "The Jagannath Temple's chief administrator should hold discussions with scholars, stakeholders and devotees on the issue," Mishra said.

BJP state president K V Singhdeo said the government should accede to the Puri seer's recommendations. "Last week the law minister Arun Sahoo convened a meeting with only one section of priests (Daitapati Nijog). He should have called representatives of other Nijogs as well," Singhdeo said.

Sahoo had announced that the devotees will be barred from climbing the chariots on three days only - first day of Rath Yatra, Bahuda Yatra and Suna Besha. The seer, who asserted 'climbing chariots' is a sin, took offence at the government's move and asked the government not to 'distort' and 'dilute' his suggestion.

A section of priests, who has been opposing the seer's recommendations, on Tuesday wrote a letter to chief minister Naveen Patnaik, seeking relaxation in the restriction. "Initially, we were opposing the blanket ban. Subsequently, we agreed to the three-day restriction. If the government imposes further restriction, we will boycott the rituals," said Daitapati Nijog's president Ramakrushna Dasmohapatra.

Former OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik urged the government not to interfere in religious matters. "The government should ensure law and order and regulation of traffic. Since the Sankaracharya's recommendations are known to be conclusive, it should not have ignored his views," Patnaik said in a statement.

Throwing their weight behind the Sankaracharya, members of a socio-cultural outfit in Cuttack on Tuesday urged the government to introduce reforms suggested by the seer of Govardhan Peetha.