The government should come clean on Sabarimala gold scam
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The political and wealthy lobby that has always thrived and suppressed faith and believers has existed in all times. This exploitative group is also insistent about keeping religion and religious practices outside their political or commercial playground. But at the same time, this group does not any qualms about using all of it for personal gain. A horrifying example of how extensively this lobby can misuse believers and religious centres is the gold heist at Sabarimala carried out by those entrusted to manage it. It has been revealed, shockingly that the gold plates from the idols of the Dwarapalakas (guardian deities), which believers regard as sacrosanct in the presence of the Sabarimala deity, were smuggled away by those who were acting as the temple’s guardians. On July 20, 2019, the gold plates weighing 2,064.19 grams from the Dwarapalaka idols at Sabarimala were once again removed from the sanctum for gold plating and taken to a private establishment in Chennai. However, it was only after 39 days that the plates arrived in Chennai, and it was confirmed that what arrived there were not gold but copper plates. During this period, some of the plates were taken to certain houses in Chennai and to Hyderabad, and portions were sold off by exploiting people’s faith. Later, copper sheets were brought for gold plating. The copper sheets, which were coated with gold and fixed on the Dwarapalaka idols and on the south-north corners, were acquired through various means by Unnikrishnan Potty. These sheets had been originally prepared by liquor baron Vijay Mallya of UB Group in 1998. Eight years ago, during the Mandala season, Potty, who had come to Sabarimala as one of the lower-level ritual performers, later became an intermediary for delivering high-value offerings. The Devaswom Vigilance report has found that he carried out numerous scams at Sabarimala in the guise of a sponsor. The gold plates entrusted for ‘gold plating’—which had turned out to be copper due to the loss of gold—were shown in the records as copper sheets to carry out a massive fraud. When the UB Group’s gold-coated plates weighing 2,064.19 grams arrived in Chennai, they had reduced to 394.900 grams. Investigations make it clear that none of this was done solely by Potty; the conversion of gold to copper and the falsification of records were carried out with the collusion of Devaswom officials. It was the officials themselves who facilitated it for Potty to make a manipulation of records. Besides Unnikrishnan Potty and his associate Kalpesh, others accused in the list are the 2019 Devaswom Commissioner, Thiruvabharana Commissioner, Executive Officer, and Assistant Engineer.
For the scam carried out by cheating and insulting believers at a sacred place like the Sabarimala sanctum, the parties accountable are both the Devaswom Board, which manages the temple administration, and the state government, which oversees it. However, from the very beginning, the state government attempted to shift all blame onto the officials. When it became clear that the phenomenon of gold being recorded as copper occurred with the knowledge of the Board members as well, the Crime Branch named the Board members as accused. The 2019 Devaswom Board President, A. Padmakumar (also CPM district committee member), K.P. Shankaradas (CPI leader), and N. Vijaykumar are included in the list of accused. This makes it evident that a massive scam was carried out under the cover of temple administration at Sabarimala.
Instead of bringing to justice those who turned a pilgrimage centre, where millions of devotees come seeking spiritual fulfilment and unity, into a hub of massive thefts and scams, and protecting the sanctuary of the devotees from disrepute, the left government and its front-line leadership tried to wash their hands off the incident and escape responsibility. Under the Pinarayi Vijayan government, which organised the Ayyappa Sangamam by spending crores putting the Devaswom Board in front at Sabarimala, neither the party leaders who control the Devaswom Board nor the officials have shown enthusiasm in investigating the massive scam carried out jointly under their administration and punishing the responsible parties. Even though the Assembly was agitated over this issue and the opposition launched a protest, both the government and the party have sought ways to evade accountability. After the investigation was extended to cover the former Devaswom Board President and the Enforcement Department decided to move forward with its probe, the Devaswom Minister and others are in the picture with their statements. But the matter cannot be settled by statements alone. The temple administration and Devaswom governance allowed the situation to reach a point where even the Sree Kovil of the Sabarimala deity could be subjected to massive theft. In this context, the government has much to explain to the believers and the people of Kerala. Through a just and proper investigation, the government should apprehend the culprits and impose exemplary punishment to demonstrate its accountability in governance to the people.
