Kedar Mishra
The MadalaPanji or the temple chronicler of Jagannath temple, Puri is a living document of the history of Odisha. It not only records the events of the temple, but also the political and social history of Odisha. At this point of time it is unknown whether the Madalapanji is being still recorded or not, but this time around, historians will have to write a different chapter for RathYatra of this year. Historically it is evident that lord Jagannath’s Rath Yatra had never been stopped since 1733.
Due to the global outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic country’s highest court ruled on June 18th that the Rath Yatra could not be allowed to take place. The order of the court was based upon the argument that it may attract millions of devotees to the temple city of Puri which can really be a potential event to super spread the virus. The central government and the state government have made similar arguments, advising the Supreme Court not to allow the festival to happen. However, just after a couple of days, the voices of both the state and central governments changed due to A. mounting public pressure and B. fear of losing popular vote base. Both sides told the Supreme Court in a further hearing on June 22 that chariots of the lord could be carried out in compliance with the COVID-19 guidelines.
Now the vital question is, how could something that is possible today was impossible on June 18th? After the SC order the ruling parties in the centre and state argued that it was lord Jagannath’s wish came through the SC ruling which they have to follow. Now when the scenario is changed and SC allowed the festival to roll on, the same parties are coming with the same set of logic and word play.
The age old tradition of Rath Yatra has never been hampered by frequent epidemics, natural disasters and political unrest in Odisha. The Rath Yatra did not stop at the time of the great famine of the 1866 in which millions of Odias lost their lives. The chariots did not stop even during the widespread attacks of epidemics such as small pox, cholera, and plague. So the decision to stop the Rath Yatra during the Corona outbreak was dangerously heartbreaking and terribly ill planned.
However, we the people of Odisha must remember the role of two major political parties in Odisha, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Biju Janata Dal, in the government and their efforts to stop the Rath Yatra. Now there is a unhealthy race to gather credit for making Rath yatra possible. BJP leaders are flooding social media with thanks giving to Mr. Amit Shah and the Prime minister. It was only SC which allowed the festival to go on. No one else should claim credit for this.
Don’t we see the political opportunism of political parties in this context?
