The Supreme Court opened the doors of the Sabarimala temple to women of all ages in a 4-1 judgment, beating back centuries-old traditions of the temple management to deny the right to worship to women of procreating age. For decades, women between the ages of 10 and 50 were not allowed entry into the shrine as the Travancore Devaswom Board, that manages the temple, cited the ‘celibate’ nature of the presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa.
Members of the Opposition Congress and BJP in Kerala Friday staged demonstrations to express solidarity with Ayyappa devotees even as the CPI, the key partner in the CPI-M led LDF, said there was an attempt to “politicise” the Supreme Court order on Sabarimala.
The BJP said its protest would not be confined to Kerala and would expand to other South Indian states.
CPI state secretary Kannam Rajendran said, “LDF was not against believers. The government was bound to implement the Supreme Court order and it was doing only that.”
“There was an attempt to politicse the issue,” he added.
A group of Congress activists including several women held a dharna in front of an office of the Travancore Devaswom Board, that manages the hill shrine with the slogan of ‘Protect Sabarimala Temple’.
Inaugurating the ‘devotees gathering,’ KPCC Campaign Committee Chairman K Muraleedharan, MLA, said the state government should file a review petition against the apex court verdict to allow entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala shrine.
Taking a dig at the BJP, which has also launched a protest march over the issue, Muraleedharan said the matter could be resolved if the Centre brings in a law to restrict the Court from interfering in temple customs and tradition.
Meanwhile, the ‘Sabarimala Protection’ long-march led by BJP passed through the neighbouring Kollam district.
The march would culminate in the state capital on October 15.
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