The Sabarimala issue seems to intensify further with tribes and Dalits joining the fray seeking rights over the hill shrine and its resources.
A coordination committee of various tribal and Dalit organisation will soon kick-start a campaign to reaffirm their rights over the Sabarimala temple and the adjoining forests.
The first meeting of the committee to decide on the future course of action will be held in Kottayam on Sunday.
According to M. Geethanandan, leader of the Dalit-Adivasi Joint Action Council, representatives of different tribes inhabiting the forest fringes of Sabarimala such as the Mala Arayan, Oorali and Malapandarams, besides various Dalit organisations and representatives of civil society, are slated to attend the meeting.
Based on the outcome, a Statewide protest will be launched, which will be intensified further during the coming annual pilgrimage season at Sabarimala.
Demands
“The objective is to come up with a plan of action to reassert the legal rights of tribal communities over the Sabarimala shrine and adjacent forests.
The demands include restoration of the tribal rituals at Sabarimala and its related temples, ending the predominance of Brahmins and ensuring the community forest rights of tribals in and around the Sabarimala forests,” he said.
Further, the programme will also focus on ensuring the access of tribes to the Sabarimala temple as a ‘deity centre’ and its resources.
“A share of the temple’s financial resources should go towards the welfare of the tribal communities, who were forced out from these forests, their original habitat, with the advent of idolatry in the early 20th century,” he added.
Similarly, a Statewide campaign to uphold the apex court’s verdict on the entry of women at the temple will be taken up. Legal action will be sought against the Assembly and Parliament members who protested against the court order in violation to their oath of office. The Akhila Thiruvithamcore Mala Araya Mahasabha, an independent outfit, will soon be taking out protest marches across Kottayam and Idukki districts seeking their right to conduct Makaravilakku festival at Sabarimala.
To approach SC
According to C.K. Sasidharan, president of the organisation, it planned to approach the Supreme Court against the Travancore Devaswom Board seeking to restore its rights of rituals at Sabarimala and ownership over various temples in the region.