In an alleged bid to put control on the functioning of the RSS in the State, Kerala’s Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran of the CPI(M) on Monday said that the Government would not allow the Sangh to “turn temples into centres for storing arms” in the name of Shakhas in the premises of the temples that came under Devaswom boards.

Stating that he had been getting complaints about the “unauthorized” activities by RSS and other outfits in temples under Devaswom boards, the Minister said in a Facebook post, “(The Government) won’t allow the temples to be transformed into centres of anti-social activities that vitiate the secular character and peaceful atmosphere of the State.”

Pointing out that the Government had the responsibility for alleviating the anxieties existing among the people about the “unauthorised” activities at temple premises, Kadakampally said, “The Government will intervene to take urgent action on such complaints and to put an end to the unauthorized activities.”

“Temples are centres of faith and rituals. The RSS is trying to keep the devotees away from the temples and transform them into arms storage centres by conducting Shakhas and weapons training,” the Minister said in his Facebook post. “Being a Government which views the protection of the interests of the devotees as its responsibility cannot allow such activities,” he told newsmen.

Responding to Kadakam-pally’s statement, Kerala BJP president Kummanam Rajasek-haran said that it reflected the intolerance of the Marxist party and that the RSS was not running its Shakhas secretly while the party’s State general secretary, MT Ramesh, said the RSS was an organisation that was functioning absolutely legally.

“If a temple administration committee is allowing the conduct of RSS Shakha at that temple, it would be because it is not against the affairs of that place. If anything illegal is happening, (the Government) can certainly take action,” Ramesh said.