Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday held “RSS driven upper caste religious fanatics” responsible for the violent agitation to undermine the universal right of women of all ages to worship at Sabarimala.
Mr Vijayan is currently in Abu Dhabi to persuade the well-heeled expatriate Malayali community there to contribute treasure and talent to rebuild flood-ravaged Kerala actively.
In a Facebook post, Mr Vijayan said any person, irrespective of their religion or caste, could worship freely at Sabarimala. The custom had long been a thorn in the side of the BJP-RSS combine. It wanted to alter the inherently secular character of the shrine.
The Sangh Parivar sought to re-establish upper caste hegemony over all aspects of Sabarimala worship.
The Chief Minister warned that the RSS plot if allowed to prevail, would alienate the majority of Ayyappa devotees who hailed from castes that were in times past stigmatised as “avarnas” and still deemed by the Sangh Parivar to be at the bottom of Hindu social order.
Mr. Vijayan said RSS backed upper caste forces had robbed the Mala Arayar, a hill tribe that minded Sabarimala shrine in the past, of their rightful role in temple rituals.
The RSS had always attempted to rewrite the unique secular character of Sabarimala. It had tried to reduce the role of Vavaru, a Muslim warlord whom Ayyappa defeated and turned into an ally as per local lore, in the temple’s liturgy.
The RSS inspired attack on pilgrims at Sabarimala would discourage devotees from offering prayers at the shrine.
The Government could not condone such violence. It would legally resist any move to turn Sabarimala into a conflict zone. Mr Vijayan said the Government would meet head-on the step to turn Sabarimala into a centre of upper caste dominance. He urged Ayyappa devotees to recognise the Sangh Parivar plot and help thwart it.
