Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran has said that the position of the Nair Service Society (NSS) on Sabarimala tantamount to an open encouragement of those elements seeking to unleash lawlessness in the State in the name of religion and faith.
Reacting to NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair’s statement blaming the government for the recent rioting following the entry of two young women to the temple early last Wednesday, Mr. Surendran asked the social organisation to desist from helping the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its divisive agenda.
He said the Sabarimala Karma Samithi (SKS) was a political construct of the RSS and the Hindu Aikya Vedi. The NSS had failed to view the Sabarimala issue objectively. The government was constitutionally bound to uphold the Supreme Court order allowing entry of women, irrespective of their age, to the temple. He said the government had no hidden agenda. It had not tried to impose an atheist agenda on anybody. The government had only attempted to remind the State about the Enlightenment values that transformed Kerala from a medieval State into a modern one.
The State had reaped dividends of the social reformation, and secular society should protect the core principles of the movement that involved people of all faiths.
The Tantri of Sabarimala temple had violated the order of the Supreme Court (SC) by holding a purification ritual following the entry of two women. His action tantamount to the practice of untouchability, a cruel tradition banned by law, Mr. Surendran said.
CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan echoed Mr. Surendran’s sentiments and said the NSS statement appeared supportive of rioters who wreaked havoc in the State in the name of entry of women to Sabarimala.
CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran said the NSS appeared to have forsaken its stated policy of equidistance from political alignments in support of revanchist forces.