Sabarimala protester sets himself afire, dies
STIR BJP has called a 12-hour shutdown in Kerala on Friday to protest the 49-year-old’s death
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ongoing Sabarimala agitation claimed its first victim on Thursday when a man said to be an Ayyappa devotee set himself ablaze in front of the Kerala secretariat where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader C K Padmanabhan has been on a sit-in protest against restrictions imposed at the hilltop shrine by the Left Democratic Front government.
Police said the man, identified as 49-year-old Venugopalan Nair of Muttada near the Kerala capital, died late in the afternoon at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital where he was admitted with 80% burns.
The BJP has called a 12-hour shutdown strike in Kerala on Friday to protest against Nair’s death. “The state government is responsible for his death. It is playing with fire,” said party general secretary M T Ramesh.
Sabarimala has witnessed violent protests by a section of devotees and right-wing groups since the Supreme Court, in a September 28 order, allowed women of all ages to enter the shrine. Traditionally, women of child-bearing age are barred from entering it as Lord Ayyappa is considered to be celibate. Both the BJP and the Congress are protesting against the top court order, but the Kerala government is committed to implementing it.
According to the police, around 2am, Nair drenched himself with petrol and set himself on fire. Chanting ‘Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa’ in praise of the presiding deity at the SabarTamil imala temple, he ran towards the makeshift tent where Padmanabhan has been on indefinite fast.
Although caught off guard, BJP activists and policemen present near the venue doused the flames using drinking water and rushed Nair to hospital. His relatives told reporters he had been extremely disturbed at what was going on at the temple. So much so that he didn’t visit Sabarimala at all this year, although he was a temple regular, they said.
Soon after the death of Nair, an autorickshaw driver, the BJP and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) began a verbal duel. “Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan is responsible for his death. The state has never seen such an insensitive chief minister. He has to pay a heavy price for the unfortunate death of the devotee,” claimed Padmanabhan.
Terming the death an “unfortunate incident”, ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretary A Nagappan alleged, “It is sad the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)-BJP combine is using the unfortunate incident to fan trouble in the state.”
The BJP said it would intensify its agitation. For the past 10 days, party leaders have been observing a fast outside the Kerala secretariat. After general secretary A N Radhakrishnan was taken ill, Padmanabhan is continuing the protest.
The state has already witnessed two shutdown strikes over the issue. The Supreme Court will take up a bunch of review petitions against its September 28 verdict on January 22 next year.
VENUGOPALAN NAIR SET HIMSELF ON FIRE. HE CHANTED ‘SWAMIYE SARANAM AYYAPPA’ AND RAN TOWARDS A TENT WHERE BJP LEADER PADMANABHAN WAS ON A SIT-IN PROTEST