The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday attacked the Kerala government for “showing undue haste” and “impulsiveness” in implementing the Supreme Court’s order allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple.
The state government led by the Left Democratic Front and the Travancore Devaswom Board have made it clear that the top court’s order will be implemented and they will not file a review petition.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala accused the state government of showing undue haste in implementing the Supreme Court verdict. He said the Congress “would lend all support to believers whose sentiments have been bruised by the verdict”, reported The Hindu.
Chennithala said the government is implementing the verdict without considering the popular sentiment. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s stance that the government had no option but to implement the verdict was farcical, he claimed.
Kerala BJP President PS Sreedharan Pillai said the party will protest against the government’s stand. “The CPM government should avoid its obdurate stand against filing a review petition against the verdict,” The Indian Express quoted Pillai as saying. “The impulsiveness of the government will make Sabarimala a battleground. The government has hurt the sentiments of devotees. We will go to any extent to protect the traditions at Sabarimala.”
Workers of the BJP’s women’s wing on Thursday picketed the headquarters of Travancore Devasom Board that runs the temple in Thiruvananthapuram, reported the Hindustan Times. The Sangh Parivar’s various wings and other organisations have called a meeting in Kochi on October 8.
Meanwhile, an article in the BJP’s mouthpiece in Kerala, Janmabhumi, hailed the Supreme Court verdict, contradicting the party’s stand. R Sanjayan, deputy director of Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram, argued that the ruling does not in any way affect the foundational traditions and rituals of the temple.
The Nair Service Society, a body of Kerala’s influential Nair community, has said it will file a review petition in the Supreme Court. The society, which joined as a party in the long-drawn litigation, said the government was showing unnecessary hurry in implementing the verdict.
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