Amid Sabarimala chaos, edited video of ‘lost boy’ sparks political slugfest in Kerala

The commotion at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala due to a substantial influx of devotees in the recent days has triggered a political slugfest in Kerala.

While the BJP has been criticising the Pinarayi Vijayan government over poor crowd management at the shrine, and utter lack of basic facilities including food and water for pilgrims waiting in serpentine queues for hours, a recent video of a 10-year-old devotee looking for his father has only added fuel to the fire.

The video featuring a young Ayyappa devotee tearfully seeking help after losing his father in the crowded Sabarimala pilgrimage site has gone viral on social media over the past two days. While fact-checking websites have clarified that the boy was later reunited with his father with the help of police, right-wing trolls have skipped it and only shown the distressful part to paint the LDF government in poor light.

Unprecedented crowd, distressed devotees

The shrine has witnessed an unprecedented number of devotees this year with over 120,000 individuals visiting it on a daily basis. Pilgrims, caught in the crowd and chaos, have been complaining that the government has failed to ensure basic amenities for them with many being forced to stand in queues for long hours, sometimes up to 18 hours, without water and food. The arduous terrain makes the situation even worse.

Right-wing trolls, who have been accusing the LDF government of “ill-treating” Ayyappa devotees at the shrine have made copious use of the viral video to prove their point.

Their propaganda posts on social media have, however, omitted the latter portion of the video, wherein the boy is successfully reunited with his father and expresses gratitude to the police for their assistance.

Damage to government image

Even though fact-checking websites and journalists such as Mohammed Zubair have unveiled the truth behind the video, the edited visual has inflicted considerable damage on the reputation of the state government. Several right-wing politicians continue to use it as an example to support their argument that the left government is “hostile” towards Hindu devotees.

“Nowhere else but in Kerala do we encounter such visuals. Even immersing your hands in the Ganges won't cleanse the stain of sin,” wrote BJP state president K Surendran on Facebook, addressing chief minister Vijayan.

On one side of the narrative, the BJP-led right-wing is capitalising on the issue, with the Congress-led state opposition also participating in the discourse. And on the other side, there is a tangible reality of chaos and devotees experiencing significant hardships in their quest to catch a glimpse of the deity, Lord Ayyappa, situated atop the 18 sacred steps on the hill shrine.