After a core committee meeting here on Monday, the State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to back the ongoing agitation against the Supreme Court verdict that allowed entry of women of all age groups to the Sabarimala temple.
BJP State president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai will lead a long march, Sabarimala Samrakshana Yatra, with the participation of other constituents of the National Democratic Alliance, from Pandalam to the secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on October 10. The march is expected to reach the capital on October 15. The party’s northern units in the State, in the meantime, would hold protests in their respective areas.
Announcing this to the media here, Mr. Pillai said there had been no confusion within the party over the issue, but it would not join hands with the groups of devotees filing a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict.
Criticising the State government for its undue haste in implementing the court order which according to him was reflective of the CPI(M)’s strategy to reduce the significance of the Sabarimala temple, he accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of trying to drive a wedge between various sections of the Hindu community.
“The government is using an iron hand to suppress the protests against the verdict. We are with the Ayyappa devotees,” he said.
Mahila Morcha fast
On October 17, in connection with the opening of the temple for monthly poojas, the party’s Mahila Morcha would hold a fast in the Poonkavanam area linked to Sabarimala, he said.
Mr. Pillai flayed the Congress for its double standards on the Sabarimala issue, accusing the party of trying to cash in on the sentiments of believers with a political motive. He, however, brushed aside questions regarding the stance of some RSS leaders and Union Minister Maneka Gandhi who welcomed the verdict as ‘individual opinions’.
The article written by R. Sanjayan welcoming the verdict in the BJP mouthpiece Janmabhumi was also ‘his personal opinion’, according to Mr. Pillai.
