Sabarimala truce call ends in walkout
ALLPARTY MEET Opposition turns down Kerala CM’S suggestion that dates be reserved for only women devotees
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An allparty meeting called by Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to resolve the Sabarimala standoff failed to make headway on Thursday with the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staging a walkout after Vijayan stood firm that he was “dutybound” to implement the Supreme Court order allowing women of all ages entry into the temple. The annual Sabarimala pilgrimage season starts Friday.
A suggestion by Vijayan that certain dates be reserved for only women to worship at the hilltop temple, including those in the reproductive age whose entry into the shrine is opposed by traditionalists, also had no takers. A senior official of the Travancore Dewasom Board (TDB), which runs the temple, said the board had no idea of the proposal.
“The government suggested many (ways) to end the impasse and reserving a particular time slot was one among them. The TDB also favoured it. But since opposition parties insisted on a blanket ban, we couldn’t go further on this,” said a senior government official who was part of the discussions and requested anonymity.
The Opposition has been demanding that Kerala’s Left Front government back down from its stand of implementing the SC’S September order. The top court has agreed to hear review petitions against its verdict on January 22 but made it clear that it has not stayed the original order. In Thursday’s meeting, the opposition parties sprang the demand that implementation of the SC order be put off till January 22.
But Vijayan turned it down, saying that since the verdict had not been stayed, the state had no option but to allow women of all ages entry into the shrine.
With no consensus emerging after nearly three hours of talks, the opposition parties walked out. “Now the chief minister will be responsible for any eventuality at the temple,” Congress leader of the opposition Ramesh Chennithala said after the meeting, blaming Vijayan’s “adamant” stand and alleged refusal to compromise for the walkout. “The government has wasted a golden opportunity.”
State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief PS Sreedharan Pillai, too, pinned the blame on Vijayan. “The CM wants to make Sabarimala a battleground. We wasted more than two hours,” he said.
Later in the day, CM held another round of discussion with the tantri (supreme priest) of Sabarimala and scions of the erstwhile Pandalam royal family, custodians of the shrine, but the talks failed to yield any results. “We told the CM that we are not ready to flout the temple custom. He also came out with some suggestions. Since both sides stick to their versions, we can say problem persists,” said Sasikumar Varma of Pandalam family.
Tantri Rajeevaru Kandararu appealed to women not to flout the age-old customs of the temple.
Vijayan told reporters after the opposition walkout: “The government was not stubborn. But we have no other option but to implement the SC verdict. If tomorrow the court takes another decision, the government will follow that”.