Politics has no role in daily worship and festivals of temples, says Kerala HC
Kochi, Feb 17: The Kerala High Court has held that politics has no role to play in the conduct of daily worship and temple festivals, while observing that neither a devotee nor the district administration has the legal right to insist on using a specific colour for decorative materials used in ceremonies.
In its order on February 14, a division bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and P G Ajithkumar said a devotee has no legal right to insist that saffron or orange coloured decorative materials alone should be used for festivals in a temple under the management of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).
Similarly, the district administration or the police cannot insist that only ‘politically neutral’ coloured decorative materials be used for such festivals.
The court made the observation while disposing of two petitions filed in connection with a case relating to the conduct of Kaliyoottu festival at Major Vellayani Bhadrakali Devi Temple in Thiruvananthapuram.
The temple is under the management of TDB.
One of the petitioners alleged that on February 7, when the decoration work at the temple premises commenced, the police orally directed them to stop the erection of arches, festoons and tinsels with saffron colours, and asked them to use multi-colour items for decoration in the shrine’s premises.
The court, in its order, said that the right to worship is a civil right, “of course in an accustomed manner and subject to the practice and tradition in each temple”.
“A worshipper or a devotee has no legal right to insist that saffron/orange coloured decorative materials alone are used for festivals in a temple under the management of the Travancore Devaswom Board.
“Similarly, the district administration or the police cannot insist that only ‘politically neutral’ coloured decorative materials are used for temple festivals. Politics has no role to play in the conduct of daily worship and ceremonies and festivals in temples,” the order said.
Nemom police had filed a counter affidavit saying the district magistrate had given a direction to remove all flags, banners, flex boards and other decorative works put up on roads after a dispute between rival groups of devotees backed by political parties affected the law and order situation.
However, the writ petition alleged that the District Magistrate and the local police were creating trouble in the conduct of the temple festival, “misusing their powers, under the influence of the local Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers”.
The police informed the court that it has not made any restrictions over use of saffron colour in the rituals such as Nilathilporu, Paranettu, etc and have insisted that saffron be used with other colours in the decoration in public places.
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Trump says he called off dispatching envoys to Iran talks
Dubai (PTI): US President Donald Trump said he told his top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner not to travel to Pakistan to negotiate with Iran, stating on Fox News that "they can call us any time they want”.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports. Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade,” to allow a new round of negotiations, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Pakistan on Saturday evening, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Araghchi is expected back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday.
Trump said Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks after talks at the White House. The meeting was the second high-level negotiation between the two countries this month. The initial 10-day ceasefire had been due to expire Monday.
The Trump administration is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil.
The move announced Friday is part of the administration's threat to impose secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran in an effort to cut off Iran's oil exports, which are a key source of its revenue.
Airlines worldwide have begun cancelling flights as the war in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up prices. Experts have offered information to travelers about what to do if a flight is cancelled.
Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country won't negotiate while the United States imposes a blockade on its ports, according to Iranian media.
Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a phone call Saturday night that the US “should first remove operational obstacles, including the blockade”, to allow a new round of negotiations, the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies reported.
The Pakistani premier described the call as a “warm and constructive discussion”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi concluded a one-day trip to Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Saturday after meeting with Pakistani military and government officials.
The trip did not produce a breakthrough in efforts to relaunch negotiations after US President Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by his envoys to Islamabad.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will return to Pakistan after his current visit to Oman on his way to visiting Russia.
The report said he was expected to be back in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Sunday and would join other members of his delegation who had gone to Tehran for consultations and “instructions on the topics related to the end of the war.”
