Miffed with Kerala govt nod to Thrissur Pooram forward of polls, animal welfare board to method EC

Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The choice taken by the Kerala authorities to grant permission to carry Thrissur Pooram in its full glory has not gone down properly with animal proper activists and it’s more likely to meet stiff resistance because the State Animal Welfare Board is more likely to method the election fee citing violation within the mannequin of conduct.

“This is a clear case of vote bank appeasement ahead of the elections. Thrissur Pooram is scheduled to be held by April 23 and there is no need to give permission to the festival around a month before especially when the state is fighting hard to contain the spread of Covid 19 virus. Even if they say they would control the crowd, how is it possible to hold Kudamattom ritual by adhering to the social distancing norm atop the elephant,” M N Jayachandran, a member of the Animal Welfare Board instructed The New Indian Express

“The state government can take a decision after the April 6 elections. So this is a classic case of vote bank appeasement ahead of the elections and the State Animal Welfare Board will definitely challenge it before the election commission.”

This shouldn’t be the primary time the state authorities gave in to the stress of Thrissurites throughout the time of elections.

During the 2019 parliament elections, when the district administration had banned the celeb blind elephant Thechikottukavu Ramachandran from being paraded on the Pooram, the elephant house owners had threatened the authorities that they might withdraw all elephants from the pageant if the jumbo was not given permission. Finally, the Advocate General (AG) gave the nod to Thrissur district collector to let celeb elephant take part within the famed Pooram, with riders.

The Thrissurites additionally managed to safe permission within the final minute by veiled threats and lobbying even after the Kerala Captive Elephant (Management & Maintenance), Rules was amended in 2012.

The permission was additionally given on the time of the Puttingal firework tragedy that killed over 100 folks within the state in 2016 forward of the meeting elections. Following this, curbs have been positioned for the conduct of a firework show.

When the High Court had banned the excessive decibel fireworks between sundown and dawn in 2016, the Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu Devaswoms, the principle members of Thrissur Pooram, had overtly threatened to restrict the celebrations to rituals in the event that they needed to implement the courtroom’s order. Finally after days-long lobbying and threats, the state authorities had given particular permission to carry the fireworks.