Ashram attacked ahead of Shah’s visit
Kerala preacher Giri targeted by traditionalists after his support for court ruling on Sabarimala
Hours ahead of a visit to the state by Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, unidentified miscreants attacked the ashram (hermitage) of a progressive Hindu preacher in the state capital, and set fire to vehicles parked in the ashram compound.
The attack, suspected to have been carried out around 2am (local time) yesterday, is believed to have been targeted at Swami Sandeepananda Giri, who has been preaching a progressive line of Hinduism and has frequently locked horns with traditionalists in television discussions.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and a number of his Cabinet colleagues visited the ashram, and expressed condemnation over the attack.
“The attack was not aimed at the ashram, but on Sandeepananda Giri. They wanted him to burn in the fire,” Vijayan said. Several of his ministerial colleagues, including Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran and former minister A.K. Balan condemned the attack on the ashram.
The preacher had been a target for some of the traditionalists after he strongly supported India’s Supreme Court ruling that permitted entry for girls and women in the 10-50 agegroup at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Pathanamthitta district. Following the verdict, several women including journalists made attempts to enter the temple, but were foiled by the traditionalists.
Physical violence
In follow-up action, police have registered arrests of nearly 3,000 persons who were identified through camera visuals to be involved in physical violence against women and police forces in Sabarimala.
Hours after the attack on the ashram in the south of the state, Amit Shah landed in the Kannur airport, for a visit to the state, in the process becoming the first passenger at the soonto-be opened airport.
In his rabble-rousing speech in Kannur, Shah extended strong support to Ayyappa devotees in the state, and said: “I wish the Kerala government had shown the same interest that it shows for permitting women’s entry into Sabarimala to alleviating the misery of those affected by the recent floods in the state.”
Tension has been rising in the state ahead of the main pilgrimage season at Sabarimala, which opens for rituals on November 16.
Three days ahead of that, on November 13, the apex court will consider a review petition against its verdict last month that gave worship permission for all, irrespective of gender and age.