Kerala CM backs SC verdict on Sabarimala\, slams priest\, Sangh Parivar

Kerala CM backs SC verdict on Sabarimala, slams priest, Sangh Parivar

Vijayan said, “The Sangh Parivar wanted to turn Sabarimala into a battle zone. No one should be under the delusion that the hill shrine can be made a camp of criminals.”

Written by Shaju Philip | Thiruvananthapuram | Updated: October 24, 2018 2:27:16 am
Kerala CM Vijayan Pinarayi backs SC verdict on Sabarimala, slams priest, Sangh Parivar Kerala CM Vijayan Pinarayi backs SC verdict on Sabarimala, slams priest, Sangh Parivar

A day after Sabarimala temple was closed after the monthly rituals, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday took on the thantri (priest) for threatening to close the temple in the event of entry of women of menstruating age, as directed by the Supreme Court, and Sangh Parivar, which, he said, wants to turn Sabarimala into a “battle zone”.

Addressing an LDF meeting to explain the Left’s stand on Sabarimala at Pathanamthitta, where the temple is located, Vijayan reminded the thantri: “Don’t think that Sabarimala temple will remain shut if they close it and go away with the keys. There have people who thought in this manner (earlier). When a king in north Kerala opened a temple for backward communities in the past, the thantri closed the temple and left. The king appointed a new thantri and the temple remained opened.”

Stating that the LDF government did not find any fault with the top court’s verdict, as it is in tune with the times, Vijayan said, “The Sangh Parivar wanted to turn Sabarimala into a battle zone. No one should be under the delusion that the hill shrine can be made a camp of criminals. They will be flushed out and a peaceful situation ensured.”

The government, he said, will “address that liability”.

Reacting to Vijayan’s remarks, BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai blamed the chief minister’s “stubbornness” for the present situation in Sabarimala. Pillai said the government should rectify its mistakes and protect the faith of believers, adding that massive support for devotees across the state left the CPI(M)-led LDF in “jitters”, according to PTI.

Taking on the Travancore Devaswom Board, which is reportedly considering filing either a review petition or a report in Supreme Court to wriggle out of the onus to implement the court order on women’s entry, Vijayan said, “The faithful has the right to go there. No one will be allowed to ride over that right. There is no question of moving a review petition.”

Slamming the erstwhile royal family of Pandalam, which reportedly directed the priest to close the temple if women between 10 and 50 years enter the temple, Vijayan said the Pandalam family was not part of the covenant of 1949, according to which Sabarimala temple was vested with the government.