With Bindu and Kanakadurga's historic entry into the Sabarimala temple on Wednesday, opposition parties criticised the ruling Left Front government for hurting the sentiments of Hindus. Calling for protests across the state for allowing the entry of women in the barred age group into the Sabarimala shrine, Kerala BJP chief P.S. Sreedharan Pillai called Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan a "modern Aurangazeb".
"This was a planned operation. The government's intention is to destroy Sabarimala. We call for protests across Kerala," Pillai told reporters on Wednesday.
Opposition Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala criticised CM Vijayan and the ruling CPI(M)-led government's stubbornness for implementing the Supreme Court verdict.
READ: Sabarimala: Bindu, Kanakadurga entered temple, confirms Kerala CM Vijayan
Ayyappa Dharma Sena president Rahul Easwar, who has been opposing the Supreme Court verdict and the Kerala Police for protecting the women, said, “It's an absolute shame that police secretly did all these. Why are they scared? Whom are they scared of? Why they have to do things in secret?” he asked.
He also asserted that he would continue to fight for justice. “The women's entry to the temple won't affect our case in the Supreme Court and we will fight and we will win too,” he said.
At the same time, reacting to the brief closing down of the Lord Ayyappa shrine for purification rituals following entry of women, CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that those who were bound to implement the Supreme Court order were violating it. He said the Supreme Court and the Travancore Devaswom Board should examine the Tantri's decision. He also urged an experts' panel appointed by the Kerala High Court to look into the affairs of the temple to review the Tantri's action.
Echoing Balakrishnan's statements, Malayara Samajam leader P.K. Sajeev said the temple authorities challenged the Constitution by closing the temple briefly for purification rituals.
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On Wednesday, Kerala woke up to the news that two women, in the barred age group, had entered the Lord Ayyappa Shrine in Sabarimala. Later, Kerala CM Vijayan also confirmed the news, adding that the police ensured adequate protection to the women to complete their trek to the hilltop shrine in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The development comes hours after lakhs of women in Kerala stood should-to-shoulder across national highways, creating a 620 km-long human 'wall' from the northern end of Kasaragod to the southern tip in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday as part of a state-sponsored initiative to uphold gender equality.
(With inputs from Onmanorama)
