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‘Police raj’ in Sabarimala, says BJP Kerala chief PS Sreedharan Pillai
BJP’s state chief PS Sreedharan Pillai said there was a “police raj” in Sabarimala and that the pilgrimage to the hilltop shrine to Lord Ayyappa was being affected due to their high-handedness.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday sought a judicial probe into the violence at the Sabarimala temple in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district late on Sunday as protests erupted across the state over the arrest of devotees.
The party’s state chief PS Sreedharan Pillai said there was a “police raj” in Sabarimala and that the pilgrimage to the hilltop shrine to Lord Ayyappa was being affected due to their high-handedness.
“We will move the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Police are forcing pilgrims to go back. It is a dangerous situation. The whole world is watching the naked rights violation in Sabarimala,” Pillai said.
His party’s leaders will meet governor P Sathasivam to request him to ensure a peaceful pilgrimage, which started on Friday. Leaders of the Sabarimala Karma Samiti, an umbrella organisation of many Hindu outfits, called on the governor seeking his immediate intervention in restoring peace in the area.
Protesters organised hymn chanting during sit-ins before police stations in several places in the state as well as outside chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s official residence, the Cliff House, in Thiruvananthapuram.
Organisations associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will also observe a protest day on Monday. The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, said it will hold a daylong state-wide agitation on Monday to further intensify their stir against “police high handedness”.
“We have organised a state-wide protest against this emergency like situation in the state,” Morcha’s state president Prakash Babu told news agency PTI.
Protests erupted on Monday across Kerala after 72 devotees were arrested late on Sunday night for flouting prohibitory orders outside the Sabarimala temple. They were taken into custody after nearly an hour-long stand-off and brought down to the base camp.
A devotee was injured during the scuffle after he fell down and was admitted in a hospital. He accused the police of manhandling him.
The fresh protests broke out at Nadapanthal area in Sannidhanam, where hundreds of devotees agitated against the police restrictions.
Police have imposed restrictions, including that on a night stay, for devotees at Sannidhanam after several incidences of violence at the hilltop shrine. Authorities also clamped prohibitory orders banning the gathering of four or more people in the area.
The temple opened for the annual pilgrimage season on Friday as a fierce standoff continued between the state government and protesters over the entry of menstruating women to the temple, allowed by the Supreme Court in September.
