Southern Notes: Tamil Nadu to appoint women priests

Women can now train to be ‘archakas’ or temple priests in Tamil Nadu, the government has announced. Hindu Religious Endowments minister PK Sekar Babu, whose department runs dozens of temples in the state, said that Chief Minister MK Stalin has given the go ahead for appointment from all castes as temple priests [for the overwhelming part, it is priests from the Brahmin community who perform this function], and women were also welcome to apply. Applicants will be provided training in the Agama [Hindu] rituals to enable them to become priests.

The announcement is in line with the DMK’s stated policy to make the appointment of priests more caste-inclusive. Women already serve as priests in some of the Shakti peethas such as the popular Melmaruvathur temple, and the Isha centre near Coimbatore.

The minister also said that archanas would be conducted in Tamil on request at all the major temples. Tamil archanas are already being conducted in some temples in the state [though it is mostly done in Sanskrit].

Swimming pool & gym at DM’s bungalow

Mysuru Deputy Commissioner [DM/Collector] Rohini Sindhuri was first accused by her junior officer Shilpa Nag of badmouthing her to her seniors. Nag said she was resigning because she could not take it anymore. The public spat between the two IAS officers forced the BS Yediyurappa government to transfer them out.

It was also reported that Sindhuri had got a swimming pool and gym built at a cost of some Rs.30 lacs at her official residence, which is a heritage building in the city. An inquiry was ordered, though Sindhuri claims no rules were violated. The probe was initiated after influential Mysuru politicians, including the local MLA and BJP’s Kodagu-Mysuru MP Pratap Simha raised the issue.

Sinhduri met the chief minister to request him to stay the transfer as she was involved in Covid-related work, but Yediyurappa turned it down. Many people believe she is being victimised for her action against land sharks.

End of the road in Telangana

Speculation is rife that the Telugu Desam Party [TDP] chief in Telangana L. Ramana is set to quit the party and join the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi [TRS]. The BJP, which is also trying to expand its presence in the state, is also said to be wooing him. Ramana has not said anything on the matter, but he mentioned that some of his supporters have asked him to shift party loyalty.

The TDP, led by former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, ruled over the undivided Andhra state for many years, through NT Rama Rao and then Naidu, but after losing to the Congress in 2004, and then the TRS after Telangana was formed, it has been relegated to an also-ran in Telangana.

Now, with Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress poised to enter Telangana through his sister YS Sharmila’s newly announced YSR Telangana Party, it looks as if the TDP will be almost wiped out in Telangana if Ramana decides to leave the party. The TDP has been licking its wounds ever since the heavy defeat to Jagan’s YSRCP in the 2019 AP Assembly elections.

Driver back from death row

For Becks Krishnan, reprieve from death row in an Abu Dhabi prison came in the form of billionaire Malayalee businessman and philanthropist MA Yusuff Ali. He spent seven years in jail, and saw many of his fellow inmates taken out to the firing squad, including his Pakistani cellmate.

The 45-year-old car driver was sentenced to death by the UAE federal court, though lower courts had awarded him a sentence of 15 years, for causing the death of a young Sudanese boy in an accident. His brother–in-law, a trade union leader in Kerala, got in touch with Yusuff Ali, who agreed to help, reviving the prisoner’s hopes. Finally, the boy’s family was traced to Sudan and agreed to accept ‘blood money’ of 500,000 dirhams [Rs. 1 crore] to spare Krishnan’s life, following which Ali deposited the money in court to secure Krishnan’s release.

The freed prisoner arrived in Kochi to join his overjoyed family after nearly nine years. Krishnan and his family, who hail from Thrissur district, were hugely grateful to Yusuff Ali who made it happen; he has now been offered a job in the well-known LuLu group of supermarkets and stores, which Ali heads.