Heart-wrenching visuals of a young boy who is a Sabarimala devotee crying for help are going viral on the internet. In the viral videos and pictures, the boy is seen asking for help from a policeman.
The video comes amidst allegations of gross mismanagement in this year’s Sabarimala pilgrimage and the deteriorating plight of Hindu devotees in Kerala.
The video depicts a child desperately seeking his father, who became separated in the crowded area of Nilakkal. With folded hands, the child cried out in front of the police until he spotted his father and joyfully waved when they were finally reunited.
Meanwhile, several other videos and pictures have also emerged from the Sabarimala pilgrimage in which young kids can be seen crying inconsolably in the wake of the shortages of basic amenities like food and water as well as crowd control measures. Ayyappa devotees have been finding it hard to complete this year’s pilgrimage and many have been forced to return. In several videos, devotees have been seen pleading to board even overcrowded buses to safely reach their destination unharmed.
Earlier in the day (on 12th December), OpIndia reported that for several days Ayyappa devotees and opposition parties have been accusing the Kerala governments of sabotaging the Sabarimala pilgrimage. Several opposition leaders have lambasted the state government and temple management authorities for gross mismanagement and for allegedly diverting more security personnel for Kerala CM Pinnarayi Vijayan’s statewide trip.
It is alleged that the authorities didn’t provide adequate police security for management and crowd control at the Sabarimala pilgrimage and didn’t make arrangements for basic amenities for Sabarimala devotees.
State BJP president K. Surendran accused the LDF government of sabotaging the Sabarimala pilgrimage. He stated that the Vijayan government has ignored the Sabarimala pilgrimage for its own vested interests as the pilgrims are having a very tough time with facilities appallingly poor.
In the wake of this mismanagement, the devotees have been waiting for more than 20 hours in long queues.
In many cases, the police and temple management authorities have manhandled devotees for highlighting these issues. Reportedly, the devotees are facing an acute shortage of basic amenities like clean water and food, and one 11-year-old girl child died.
A similar case was witnessed in Trichy’s Srirangam Temple premises in which Ayyappa devotees were allegedly manhandled and assaulted by temple management staff and police personnel deployed on the pilgrimage route.
A video footage of the incident in which an Ayyappa devotee was seen bleeding went viral on social media. Sharing the video of an injured Ayyappa devotee, BJP state president K Annamalai condemned the incident. He also launched a scathing attack on temple management authorities including Tamil Nadu’s Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Department (HR & CE).