K.A.V.Shetty
A careful reading of the article will reveal that the latest controversy regarding Makara Vilakku was not raised by the Leftists. It was actually raised by a Congress politician - a close aide of Mr. A.K. Antony -who criticised the Left government for encouraging the Makara Vilakku myth and fooling the devotees.
Till recently (and possibly even after the disclosure by the temple priest), devotees used to believe that Makara Vilakku, which used to appear every year on Makara Sankranthi day (January 14th), is the celestial manifestation of Lord Ayyappan himself and witnessing it would bring them good luck and divine blessings. Scores of people have died in the past in the stampedes caused by anxious devotees jostling to get a glimpse of the 'miracle'.
For long, skeptics had held that the Makara Jyothi was an artificial fire clandestinely lit in the middle of a reserve forest by the officials of the Sabarimala Temple and Travancore Devaswom Board in connivance with some forest and police officials and with a view to boosting the pilgrim traffic.
While the Sabarimala temple priest has not admitted to this 'conspiracy' , he has done well to admit that the light is an artificial one.
It cannot be denied that the various claims of 'miracles' in Christianity and Judaism have been subjected to even more rigorous critical examination in the West than what Hinduism has been subjected to in India.
In my opinion, false claims / advertising in any sphere of human activity is not on. Religious enthusiasts sometimes tend to make outlandish claims (pious lies?) thereby drawing attention to themselves and courting the risk of being exposed. e.g. the Shroud of Turin which has been proved by radio carbon dating to be a medieval age (14th century) fake.
We may recall the famous saying of Dr.Samuel Johnson: 'Fraud and falsehood only dread examination. Truth invites it.' If a claim is really true, no religion should hesitate to subject it to critical examination by anyone - believer or skeptic.
The hazy mist surrounding faith should never be subjected to the harsh glare of investigation. More importantly, will the rationalist lefties ruling Kerala have the guts to turn their searchlights on religions other than Hinduism. What these brainless 'rationalists' fail to understand is that the more they do this, the more will they encourage fundamentalism all around. If they have half a brain and understand the meaning of 'secular' government, they will leave all religions alone and focus on governing the state/country, for which they have been elected. The state of governance in the country exposes the incompetence of these morons, so that they seek to divert attention by such detours..
R. Swaminathan
