The Supreme Court’s decision, to not allow the annual Rath Yatra next week due to the coronavirus pandemic, has drawn flak from priests of the temple as well as opposition leaders, who slammed the State government over its alleged half-hearted approach in the apex court.
Following a petition filed by an NGO called Odisha Vikash Parishad, a three-judge SC bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde said it would not be appropriate to hold the Rath Yatra this year.
This is the first time after 285 years that the Rath Yatra would not be held. The last time the car festival could not be held was between 1733 and 1735 when Mohammed Taqi Khan, deputy governor of Odisha, attacked the Jagannath temple, forcing the shifting of the idols to Ganjam district.
Senior lawyer Harish Salve, appearing for Odisha, submitted that the conduct of the festival might lead to a huge public gathering and a law and order situation, but he never mentioned any alternative way to pull the chariots. The Orissa High Court last week advised the state government to consider holding the Rath Yatra with elephants or machines, instead of humans, pulling the chariots. But this suggestion did not figure during the deliberations in the apex court.
The state cabinet headed by CM Naveen Patnaik this evening decided that it will abide by the order given by the Supreme Court on the Rath Yatra.
The SC order and the state Cabinet decision, left not just millions of devotees fuming, but the priests shocked.
Senior servitor Binayak Das Mohapatra alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched against the Rath Yatra. “All preparations for the centuries-old annual festival have been wasted. It was an elaborate drama by the state government to hoodwink the devotees. What had not happened in the last 5 centuries became a reality today. The PIL was a state-sponsored act to not let the festival happen,” he alleged.
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