Congress dares Kerala government to arrest creators and broadcasters accused of politically parodying Ayyappa devotional song

The Congress on Friday (December 19, 2025) challenged the government to arrest the creators and broadcasters of the controversial political parody of a popular Ayyappa devotional song, which lampooned the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) for the alleged culpability of its Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) political appointees in the Sabarimala gold theft case. 

The catchy song had gone viral on social and conventional media, arguably catalysing the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) strong showing in the local body elections. 

The Congress cast the police case registered against the creators of the song as an infringement on artistic freedom and political dissent, and as a clear violation of the constitutional protections for freedom of speech and expression. 

Booked lyricist

The police had booked the lyricist, composer, and singers on grave charges of outraging religious faith and fostering enmity between different sets of people. The song’s creators had claimed they had staged the parody song to promote their fledgling studio on social media. 

They claimed their intent was merely to pull the leg and not to insult any religion. The studio manager said the establishment created ingenious parody songs for opposing political campaigns, along with devotional songs across the religious spectrum. 

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Pawan Khera pushed back rather dramatically by rendering the first two lines of the ditty at the party’s State headquarters at Indira Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram. He dared the police to arrest him. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph, MLA, urged Congress workers to form choirs to intone the song at town and village centres across Kerala. 

AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said the government’s quixotic bid to proscribe the song and erase the ditty from public memory indicated the LDF’s panic and lack of grace in defeat. 

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan strongly opposed the government’s move to remove the parody song from social media accounts, chiefly those operated by Meta. In a letter to the Meta, Mr. Satheesan underscored that to date, no court has prohibited the parody song or ordered its removal from social media platforms. Moreover, the satirical content woven into the song did not violate the Meta’s community standards. 

Mr. Satheesan told the Meta that the Supreme Court has consistently held that the State has no right to curtail freedom of speech and expression unless there is a clear and legally established violation of the law. 

CPI(M)’s stance

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] sought to distance itself from the accusation that the government had stifled artistic freedom and political dissidence. 

The CPI(M) noted that the police had taken cognisance of a complaint filed by the Pathanamthitta-based Thiruvabharana Patha Samrakshana Samathi, an organisation closely associated with the tradition of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. 

The party’s Pathanamthitta district secretary Raju Abraham said neither the CPI(M) nor the government was a party in the case.