Amritanandamayi shouldn't have attended Sabarimala meet: Pinarayi

Amritanandamayi shouldn't have attended Sabarimala meet: Pinarayi
Pinarayi pointed out that Amritanandamayi was in favour of women of all age groups entering the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala.

Thiruvananthapuram: Spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi should not have attended the recent meeting organised by the Sabarimala Karma samithi here, Kerala Chief Minister Pinararyi Vijayan said on Saturday.

"Amritanandamayi has a lot of followers within and outside Kerala and many of them did not like her attending such an event," Pinarayi said at his weekly interactive programme, "Naam Munnottu".

Pinarayi said the Sangh Parivar had tried to mislead Amritanandamayi before as well.

"That time, she had shown the boldness not to get trapped in their plans but the recent incident has dented her image," he said.

He pointed out that till recently, Amritanandamayi was in favour of women of all age groups entering the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala.

Amritanandamayi, along with a bunch of sanyasins, had attended the devotees' meet organised by Sabarimala Karma Samiti seeking to protect the customs of the hill shrine of Sabarimala.

The meet was the culmination of a series of protests organised by devotees, backed by right wing groups, mainly the Sangh Parivar, challenging the Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of all women to Sabriamala temple.

The Supreme Court in its September 28 verdict lifted a ban on women belonging to 10-50 age group entering the shrine.

The Pinarayi-led LDF government was adamant that it would implement the verdict while opposition parties, inlcuding the BJP and the Congress, came out against the government, accusing it of trying to subvert the customs of the temple.

On the 'Women Wall' organised by the government to counter the Sangh Parivar's protests, Pinarayi said it was a bold effort towards women empowerment.

He called for more programmes to take forward the values of the renaissance movements in the state.

He said the government will initiate more projects to ensure gender justice.

"Various government departments are carrying out several works for women empowerment. The state budget will also reflect this," he said.

The budget is slated to be presented on January 31.

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