Parties laud order, but questions persist

As all the political parties in Kerala lauded the Supreme Court verdict to transfer the Sabarimala issue to a larger bench, it remains to be seen whether women will continue to access the shrine, as it reopens on November 16.

The Supreme Court on Thursday did not stay its 2018 verdict, which allowed women of all ages to enter the temple, putting aside a custom that prevented women of a menstruating age from entering the shrine, even as the apex court referred the case to a sevenjudge bench.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government will seek the advice of legal experts. “We need more clarity. The court did not stay its earlier verdict,” he said. When asked whether the government will continue to give protection to women who wish to enter the temple, he said that legal clarification will be sought.

Many opposition parties termed the SC ruling as a victory of believers. The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) was guarded in its reaction while the opposition Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed it saying it was a “most-needed verdict”.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the Left government was committed to implementing the apex court order.

Before the verdict, both Congress and BJP had said that if the verdict went against devotees, they would explore other constitutional mechanisms to protect the age-old custom of the temple.

BL Santhosh, BJP’S general secretary (organisation), tweeted, “Sabarimala issue referred to a larger bench. [I] welcome [the] decision of [the] SC in the direction of protecting rights of devotees and upholding faith. It was never a matter of fundamental rights. It was a matter of age-old tradition accepted by society.”

Senior Congress leader and the party’s general secretary organisation KC Venugopal said that he respects the SC decision.