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Ahead of assembly polls, Sabarimala issue back on radar in Kerala
Nearly 50,000 people were booked at the height of the temple agitation three years ago and youngsters are running pillar to post amid a host of cases.
With assembly elections just two months away political parties in Kerala are in a race to rake up the emotional Sabarimala Temple issue yet again but a majority of youngsters who participated in the agitation feel let down. Facing a litany of litigations and with no legal solution in sight they are a tad upset.
K Sabarinathan was 18 years old when he was arrested during a hymn-chanting protest in Kollam (south Kerala) at the height of the Sabarimala agitation three years ago. Later, police slapped two more cases against him. A graduate now, he can’t apply for a government job or go abroad since three cases are pending against him. Many youngsters like him are making frequent trips to the court these days as parties are busy raking up the issue in a bid to get votes.
A part-time secretary with a private firm PK Jayakumar (23) lost his job after he spent 14 days in Thiruvananthapuram central jail in connection with the agitation. Facing six cases, he was summoned five times last year by two courts-- to add to his woes the six cases are in four different districts.
Nearly 50,000 people were booked at the height of the temple agitation three years ago and youngsters are running pillar to post amid a host of cases. A regular at the hill temple Jayakumar said he never expected anything positive from the Communist government but pinned much hope on the BJP government at the Centre.
“The Centre is hiding behind mere technicalities and it wants to make the issue live again. Prime Minister Modi and then party chief Amit Shah had said that sacrifices of devotees won’t be wasted. We expected a positive move after Modi stormed back to power but nothing happened,” he said.
The state had witnessed large-scale violence and five shutdowns in 2018 after the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to the temple annulling an age-old bar on women of reproductive age. For the first time in the history of the state more than 50,000 people were booked in connection with the agitation and many jails were filled to the brim.
Three years have passed and the protestors are a worried lot because no legal solution is in sight and many parties that exploited the issue including the BJP are silent now. Worried, the Nair Service Society, a socio-cultural organization of upper caste Nairs, which took a proactive role during the stir has asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to withdraw cases against those who participated in the agitation. In the letter its secretary G Sukumaran Nair cited the plight of youngsters. But the government is yet to react. Though the Congress and BJP promised that all cases will be withdrawn once they assume power, protestors are not moved.
“Since review petitions are pending before a larger bench of the apex court the Union government can’t take a decision now. The state government’s affidavit in the court to change the custom is still pending before the court. I am facing more than 200 cases,” said BJP state president K Surendran adding that party will withdraw all cases once it assumed power in the state. A distant third runner in the state, protestors know that it won’t happen in near future.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had written a letter to the CM last month asking him to approach the Supreme Court to speed up verdict and withdraw its earlier affidavit that favoured entry of women of all ages. In the letter Chandy also said the government’s affidavit created much confusion which ultimately led to the five- bench verdict in 2018.
But the government is treading cautiously this time—the Sabarimala flip-flop was one of the reasons for the drubbing of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the last general election in which it lost all but one of the 20 Lok Sabha seats. “We all know the issue is before the Supreme Court. Bankrupt Congress and BJP are raising it eying votes,” said state law minister A K Balan adding the government will go by the directive of the court.
But Bindu Ammini, one of two women who entered the hill temple three years ago making history, said she was worried that some of the progressive outfits have diluted their stance for vote bank politics. She said she expected a steady stream of women to the temple after her entry but it never happened and many who took bold positions now strand retracted.
Temple Timeline:
1990: Ban on productive women in Sabarimala was first challenged in Kerala High Court which in 1991 ruled that restriction was part of an age-old tradition. Upheld restriction on women between 10-50 age groups.
2006: Indian Young Lawyers’ Association filed a PIL in Supreme Court challenging the temple’s practice saying it was discriminatory and against gender justice.
2008: The issue was referred to a three-judge bench. Then Congress-led state government favoured status quo.
2016: The plea came up for hearing after eight years.
2017: A constitution bench was formed to hear the plea. The CPI (M)-led state government supported the entry of women.
2018: A five-judge constitution bench allows women of all ages to enter the temple. State witnesses widespread protest.
2019: The SC takes up 60-odd review petitions and entrusts the case to a nine-member bench.
