Achuthanandan flayed for ’smuggler’ slur against ex-royal
August 22nd, 2011 - 4:46 pm ICT by IANSThiruvananthapuram, Aug 22 (IANS) Social groups and political leaders Monday criticised Kerala opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan for alleging that the head of the erstwhile royal family of Travancore smuggled jewels out of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.
“Achuthanandan’s remark on the royal family could have been easily avoided. I am none to advice him on such issues,” Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said.
State Congress president Ramesh Chennithala said Achuthanandan’s remark did not suit his stature.
At a press conference Saturday, Achuthanandan said that Marthanda Varma, head of the erstwhile royal family of Travancore, smuggled jewels from the temple, which was in the news recently for the treasures recovered from its vaults.
“Don’t you know that Marthanda Varma goes to the temple everyday? When he returns he carries a tiffin box. The general perception is that he brings the ‘payasam’. But it is not that. Instead, it is jewels,” Achuthanandan said.
Achuthanandan also said this was told to him by a former temple priest.
Varma oversees the functioning of the famous temple through an executive committee.
G. Sukumaran Nair, general secretary of Nair Service Society, a social organisation of the Nair community, said that such statements from Achuthanandan is nothing new, but as the leader of opposition he should not have made these allegations.
“All these years, the royal family did the job of carefully preserving and protecting the wealth of the temple, and forgetting that Achuthanandan has made an irresponsible statement,” Finance Minister K.M. Mani said.
Meanwhile, the temple employees union in a press release issued here Monday said that no employee of the temple had lost his job after being a witness to the “smuggling”, as alleged by Achuthanandan.
However, Achuthanandan’s party colleague and former finance minister Thomas Issac said it was strange that a “king” could not be criticised.
“We communists do not have any love for kingdoms. The best that can now happen is an open discussion on this topic,” said Issac.
- Achuthanandan denies he called ex-royal family smuggler - Aug 23, 2011
- Head of former Travancore royalty accused of smuggling - Aug 20, 2011
- Kerala temple's Vault B shouldn't be opened, apex court told - Sep 02, 2011
- UAE-based media group to produce film on Marthanda Varma - Sep 14, 2011
- Padmanabhaswamy temple panel to decide Sep 2 on unopened vault - Aug 26, 2011
- Apex court names panel to evaluate Kerala temple treasure - Jul 21, 2011
- Kerala royals thrilled at treasure discovery - Jul 03, 2011
- Documentation of Padmanabhaswamy temple treasure begins - Feb 20, 2012
- Priests warn against opening Kerala temple's vault - Aug 11, 2011
- Supreme Court bars opening of Kerala temple's sixth vault - Jul 08, 2011
- Kerala temple's riches state assets: CPI-M - Sep 19, 2011
- Priests warn against opening Kerala temple's vault (Lead) - Aug 12, 2011
- Apex Court to examine opening of Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple vault - Mar 29, 2012
- Apex court asked to keep Kerala temple's vault B shut - Aug 19, 2011
- Documentation of Padmanabhaswamy temple's treasure begins - Feb 27, 2012
Tags: congress president, famous temple, finance minister, issac, leader of opposition, nair service society, oommen chandy, opposition leader, payasam, ramesh chennithala, royal family, slur, social organisation, sree, state congress, sukumaran nair, temple priest, thiruvananthapuram, travancore, v s achuthanandan