Battle lines are drawn in Kerala, with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan acting tough against the Sabarimala devotees, under pressure from the Left leadership, and with the BJP standing firm with the angry devotees. Launching a major crackdown, the Vijayan government has arrested over 2,800 devotees, who prevented women from entering the temple. Sabarimala, where the Ayyappa temple is located, witnessed tense moments for the last six days when it was opened for monthly prayers from 17 to 22 October.
As many as 2,825 people have been arrested across the state after the Chief Minister held a high-level meeting with police officials and ordered a crackdown on those defying the Supreme Court order, which allows women of all age groups to enter the temple premises. A total of 495 cases have been registered as of now.
A series of protests was witnessed across the state since the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government led by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) decided to implement the historic Supreme Court verdict. At least 12 women in the 10-50 age group had made a failed attempt to trek the hills and had to return following massive protests from the devotees opposing the verdict.
Political temperature has risen as BJP president Amit Shah, who reached the state on a visit on Saturday, trained guns at the LDF government, saying it was misusing the issue to target BJP and RSS workers. While extending full support to the devotees, he termed the protests as “aastha ke liye sangharsh (fight to save faith)”.
“The government has used the Sabarimala issue to arrest workers and supporters of BJP and other political parties. They have jailed thousands of party workers. I warn Kerala’s communist Chief Minister, don’t suppress the devotees in the name of implementing the Supreme Court judgement…It’s a well-planned conspiracy to destroy the sanctity of temples in Kerala by the communists,” Shah said while addressing a rally at Kannur after inaugurating a party office.
Speaking to The Sunday Guardian, BJP in-charge for Kerala, H. Raja said: “The situation in Kerala is worse than Emergency. Devotees have been booked under Disruption to Public Property Act. But where is the question of disruption when devotees were protesting peacefully? The Vijayan government is brazenly anti-Hindu.”
Asked to comment on the SC verdict, Raja said: “There are many such verdicts that have not been implemented. Why is the state government in a hurry to implement this one alone? There are many temples where women are not allowed. The Chief Minister is taking revenge against Hindus.”
The party has planned to organise agitations all over the state from 30 October to 7 November. From 8 to 12 November, there will be marches led by state BJP president P.S. Sreedharan.
Hearing a related petition, Kerala High Court came down heavily on the Vijayan government for the arrests and warned it that it would have to pay a heavy price if innocent people were arrested. It said the arrests should be made only if the involvement of a person in violent protests was confirmed after proper investigation.
On the other hand, CM Vijayan has blamed the BJP and RSS for the agitation at Sabarimala. He told journalists that the protests were a “planned and deliberate” attempt to create an atmosphere of tension in the state. While maintaining that the faith of the believers would be respected, Vijayan made it clear that the government had the responsibility to implement the Supreme Court order.