Kerala won’t oppose Sabarimala verdict
LDF govt says won’t file review plea against order
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/NEW DELHI: Kerala’s Communist Party of India(Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front government said on Wednesday it has no plan to file a review petition against the Supreme Court order allowing women of all ages to enter the Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the hill shrine, has decided not to go for any review. “It is the responsibility of the government to implement the court order without any compromise. We will ensure necessary arrangements are made for women devotees in the upcoming season itself,” he said.
On Friday, the Supreme Court had ruled that the bar on entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 years into the Sabarimala temple was illegal.
Vijayan’s statement comes a day after hundreds of devotees, including women, blocked state and national highways across Kerala to protest the top court order. Members of both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have called for a review of the ruling.
On Wednesday, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — the BJP’s ideological mentor — said that stakeholders, “including spiritual and community leaders”, need to come together “to analyse and address the issue of availing judicial options also.”
“They must convey their concerns on their right to worship in a manner which best suits their faith and devotion to the authorities in a peaceful manner,” said RSS general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi.
The Sangh said the Kerala government’s decision to implement the judgment with immediate effect was “unfortunate” and the protests are an “obvious reaction” by the devotees.
The statement is in sharp contrast to the Sangh’s earlier stated position of backing women’s equality. In 2016, after the annual meeting of the Sangh’s highest decision-making body, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, Joshi had said: “…women go to thousands of temples across the country but in reference to some, where their entry is an issue; there is a need to change the mentality. Management of such temples should also understand this.”
Soon after the top court order, TDB president A Padmakumar had said that the board may examine the possibility of filing a review petition. On Wednesday, the chief minister took exception to Padmakumar’s remark that a large number of women devotees were not expected at the shrine despite the court order.
Commenting on protests against the order, Vijayan said no one has the right to prevent women devotees from entering the shrine and offering prayers. “When the Supreme Court has taken a stand after considering all aspects of the matter, people have to accept the law of the land. The government is for implementing it,” he said.
Historian Mridula Mukherjee said the issue of women being discriminated against has been dealt with by India’s top court and the ruling should be respected. “We need to respect the SC judgment because the court has gone into all the aspects of the issue to do away with discrimination against women,” she said.
BJP state president S Sreedharan Pillai has said the party plans to launch a statewide agitation to protect the interests of Sabarimala devotees. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala had urged the TDB to file a review petition.