Under pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala withdrew a controversial directive in the handbook given to police personnel on duty in Sabarimala.
The very first directive in the handbook is that entry to the temple is allowed to all — including women of menstruating age, following the Supreme Court verdict in 2018.
BJP state president K Surendran had asked if the LDF government had any ‘malicious motive’ in issuing the handbook.
He said, "If the decision (of the government) is to turn Sabarimala into a war zone again and to target believers, we haven't forgotten anything from the past. The government had backtracked from those things before. If you are coming up again with such moves, it will have far-reaching consequences... that's the only thing we can say."
Reacting to Surendran’s statement, Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan said that the handbooks were printed earlier and the mistake would be corrected by withdrawing the directive. He said that the government had no bad intentions.
The temple opened on Wednesday for the Mandala-Makaravilaku pilgrimage. It will close on 27 December after the conclusion of the 41-day Mandala puja and open again on 30 December for the Makaravilaku pilgrimage.
Comments ↓
An Appeal...
Dear Reader,
As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. We do not have the muscle and backing of a large media conglomerate nor are we playing for the large advertisement sweep-stake.
Our business model is you and your subscription. And in challenging times like these, we need your support now more than ever.
We deliver over 10 - 15 high quality articles with expert insights and views. From 7AM in the morning to 10PM late night we operate to ensure you, the reader, get to see what is just right.
Becoming a Patron or a subscriber for as little as Rs 1200/year is the best way you can support our efforts.