The Kerala government will inform the Supreme Court that traditional customs at Sabarimala should be protected in the women’s entry issue.
The stand of the CPM and the LDF is that no decision should be taken that would antagonise Sabarimala traditionalists during the election period. Recently, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) also took a decision to inform the Supreme Court that it supported the protection of the Sabarimala temple's traditions.
The government’s decision comes amid concerns that the Sabarimala controversy could prove detrimental to the LDF in the elections, and that the Congress and the BJP may attempt to use the women’s entry issue as a political weapon.
The Supreme Court has directed the state government and other parties to clarify their stand on the issue by March 14, with detailed hearings to begin on April 7.
The direction came while the apex court was considering several petitions related to religion and women’s rights, including the Sabarimala issue. The petitions are being heard by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant.
The Supreme Court delivered its verdict allowing women’s entry into the temple on September 28, 2018, after 12 years of legal proceedings. The case began in August 2006, when the court issued a notice on a petition filed by women lawyers from the Indian Young Lawyers Association, seeking a directive to end the ban on women’s entry to Sabarimala.
In 2007, the TDB submitted an affidavit stating that Ayyappa devotees constituted a distinct religious denomination and therefore had the right to regulate entry. However, in February 2008, the V.S. Achuthanandan government had stated in its affidavit that women should be allowed entry, regardless of age.
The case continued in court for several years after it was referred to a three-judge bench. In January 2016, a bench headed by the Chief Justice orally observed that it was for women themselves to decide whether they wished to visit the temple. The Oommen Chandy government later submitted an affidavit opposing women’s entry and seeking protection of temple customs. The Devaswom Board appointed by the UDF government also requested that the petitions be referred to a Constitution bench.
When the Pinarayi Vijayan government came to power in 2016, it did not submit a fresh affidavit, but informed the court that it rejected the affidavit filed during the UDF government and would instead stand by the position taken in the affidavit submitted by the V.S. government.
These developments eventually led to the Constitution Bench verdict in September 2018 allowing women’s entry into Sabarimala.
“In the context of the government deciding to revise the affidavit that supported women’s entry into Sabarimala, the CPM—which had claimed to be progressive—should apologise to the public and to the opposition,” Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan said.
“When we said that temple customs should not be altered, and that doing so could create a dangerous situation, the CPM labelled us as reactionaries. Now they have taken this decision out of fear that it would hurt them in the elections,” he said.
The government’s change of position amounts to an admission that it had repeatedly made mistakes, Satheesan added.
Meanwhile, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the government should apologise to the faithful if it now believes it erred on the Sabarimala women’s entry issue.
“I had predicted four weeks ago that the government would take a U-turn on the matter. That prediction has now come true,” he said.
