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Kerala temple affairs minister regrets Sabarimala stand in poll season
Sabrimala temple and surrounding areas witnessed violence in 2018 when the state government tried to enforce the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to worship there.
As the assembly elections draw closer, Kerala Devaswom (temple affairs) minister Kadakampally Surendran on Thursday expressed regrets over Sabarimala hill temple entry row, triggered three years ago and said it should not have happened at the Lord Ayyappa shrine.
He also said the left front government will implement the verdict of the Supreme Court only after consulting with believers, political parties and all stakeholders.
“The incident that took place at the temple pained all of us. It should not have happened. It hurts believers, it has pained me also,” he said. The minister’s regret follows criticism on the issue by the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party in the run up to the polls.
The minister is seeking re-election from Kazhakoottam assembly constituency (on the outskirts of state capital) in April 6 elections. “The case is before a larger bench of the Supreme Court and once the final verdict comes, the government will consult all,” he said. However, the BJP said he presided over the attack on innocent devotees and “won’t be forgiven even if (he) takes thousand dips in river Ganga '', and that he was now shedding crocodile tears eying votes.
“Let him first withdraw the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court that vitiated the whole issue. He was the temple affairs minister when innocent devotees were attacked for chanting hymns. It is nothing but a cheap stunt for votes,” said BJP state president K Sunedran, who was jailed for more than a month during the agitation. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala asked chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to tender an apology first.
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The flip-flop on the temple issue is seen as 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. When the opposition raked the emotional issue again, the government withdrew many cases registered during the stir last month.
The temple and surrounding areas witnessed violence in 2018 when the state government tried to enforce the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to worship at the temple, ignoring the age-old tradition that barred women of child-bearing age due to the peculiar nature of the presiding deity. The apex court held that the practice was against gender justice. The state witnessed five shutdowns in 2018 over the issue. After widespread violence, revision petitions were referred to a nine-member bench by the apex court.
