More arrests in Kerala after temple drama

MEMBER OF FAMILY OF PRIESTS AT SHRINE HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF INCITING RIOTING

Authorities made more arrests in Kerala, over the violence unleashed at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple earlier this month.

Clashes erupted when women attempted to enter the temple, armed with the Supreme Court verdict that tore down the tradition that prevented girls and women in the 10-50 age-group from entering Sabarimala on the ground that they were “impure”. By yesterday, the total number of people arrested in connection with the violence reached 3,345.

To identify the perpetrators, police have used footage of the incidents at Sabarimala, in which throngs of people were seen clashing with police or intimidating women pilgrims attempting to reach the hill shrine. No girl or woman in the restricted age group has yet made it to the temple, owing to the stiff resistance put up by conservatives.

Shah snubbed

The most high-profile arrest yesterday was that of Rahul Easwar, a member of the family of tantrics (priests) at the temple, for allegedly inciting rioting.

Meanwhile, amid tensions over the Sabarimala issue, general secretary of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) Vellapally Natesan snubbed Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah.

A day after Shah called for unity between the BJP and SNDP cadres in the Sabarimala issue, Natesan said his cadres would not take to the streets, but only stand up in a peaceful manner for protection of faith at the temple.

Elsewhere, the Nair Service Society (NSS) general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair dismissed Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s appeal to the NSS to rethink its support to the traditionalists.