Sangh Parivar’s hartal call over Sabarimala challenges SC verdict: CM Vijayan

The incident marked the first time that women between the ages of 10 and 50 were able to enter the temple, breaching right-wing protests, since the top court delivered a landmark ruling to allow women of all ages at the hill-top shrine.

Vijayan criticised the ‘tantri’ of the Sabarimala temple for closing the shrine after the women entered it to perform purification rituals, and said the priest should have resigned if he was opposed to the Supreme Court’s verdict.

“A strange thing happened at the Ayyappa temple yesterday. The ‘tantri’ (priest) closed the shrine and performed the purification rituals. This was violation of the SC verdict,” Vijayan said.

“The ‘tantri’ should have quit, if he had any objection to the apex court order as he was also a party to the case,” he said.

Shops remain open in Kochi as traders had decided to boycott the hartal. (Express photo by Harikrishnan KR)

The chief minister said that violence in the state could not be condoned.

“Since yesterday, Kerala has witnessed so many incidents. The violence by the Sangh Parivar is organised and coordinated in nature. They have a political character as well. There’s only one way to tackle this, which is to resist such incidents strongly. No violence can be condoned,” the chief minister said.

Vijayan listed a string of incidents of violence in the past 24 hours that he attributed to outfits associated with the BJP-RSS: attack on the Kottarakkara Ganapathy temple’s ‘unniyappam’ counter, attack on a bus in Perinthalmanna, onslaught on a CPM office in Vizhinjam, attack on four state transport buses and a private bus in Sasthamkotta, official video camera of the police smashed to pieces in Thrissur, shop owned by a woman attacked in Mavelikkara because she participated in the women’s wall movement on January 1, attack on video-journalists of Kairali and Mathrubhumi television news channels, a lawyer’s car attacked in Chalakkudy, a female cop assaulted in Vadakkekara.

A total of 73 state transport buses were struck and 31 police personnel injured in incidents since Wednesday morning, the chief minister informed.

Vijayan also hit out hard at right-wing outfits and miscreants for assaulting women who participated in the women’s wall programme on Tuesday.

BJP protesters march through the shopping centre in Kochi. (Express photo by Harikrishnan KR)

“At Chettukund in Kasaragod district, they burnt grass and added chilli powder near a spot where the women’s wall was forming to disperse the participants. They have a lot of criminals with them. These criminals have been deputed by Sangh Parivar leaders to attack those who wanted to engage with the women’s wall,” CM Vijayan added.

In the same vein, he lauded the lakhs of women who joined hands with the government to send out a strong message of gender equality and women empowerment as part of the ‘vanitha mathil’ (women’s wall) programme.

“The women’s wall is a new chapter to Kerala’s social reform history. The participation of women exceeded our expectations. This programme will decide the future course of the state,” he said.

with inputs from PTI