Thiruvananthapuram: Opposition parties Congress and the BJP in Kerala are expected to lay down a single but tough condition at the all-party meet on the Sabarimala controversy scheduled for November 15. Prohibit the entry of women to the Ayyappa temple at any cost.
If the government says it will implement the Supreme Court order allowing the entry of women, there is a chance that the hill shrine will have to be shut down for the entire duration of the 'mandalam' season. The government has intelligence information that Sangh Parivar groups would prevent the entry of women at any cost this season. It is said that they will use clauses in ancient texts like 'Thanthra Samuchayam' to force the closure. History has a precedent. Guruvayur temple was closed for 31 days after Dalits entered the place of worship following the Guruvayur Satyagraha in 1932.
Both the Congress and the BJP, sources said, will ask the government to file a clarification petition in the Supreme Court to buy time, an option Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan might choose. Given the charged atmosphere, it now looks like the government will have to do something, quickly, to tide over the crisis.
Top government sources said the state could use unpreparedness, especially in the wake of floods, as a genuine alibi to postpone the implementation of the verdict. “It is true that infrastructure in general is woefully inadequate, leave alone that of women. This is especially so after the floods. Now, the High Court has also asked the Devaswom Board to dismantle the toilet block for women at Pamba, one of the only three in the area,” a top official said.
The Supreme Court, too, is aware of the situation. The Central Empowered Committee appointed by the apex court had recently visited Sabarimala and had submitted a report. The committee has found serious drawbacks in various aspects like sewage management. It has described the situation as both “pathetic and dangerous”. However, top aides in the Chief Minister's Office are tightlipped about the government's strategy. “The chief minister would like to hear what others have to say,” an aide said.
Though the Congress was quick to accept Pinarayi Vijayan's invite, the decision to attend was not unanimous. KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran was dead against taking part in the all-party meeting. His argument was that Pinarayi Vijayan had called for talks because his stand on Sabarimala has weakened him politically. He will use the all-party meet to revive his stock, the KPCC president is said to have argued. Mullapally also said the Congress had earlier asked the chief minister to convene such a meeting and that he had wilfully ignored it.
However, UDF allies like Muslim League said the UDF should voice its stand. The assessment of the UDF leaders was that the Congress's non-violent stand was gradually gaining acceptance among the devout. There was also the need to gradually wrest control from the BJP.
The BJP, however, hesitated for a long time before accepting the chief minister's invite. An influential section in the RSS wanted the BJP to boycott the meet. Their argument was that the CPM had already planned to allow some women to enter and therefore it was futile to attend the meeting. But, after a series of talks held by BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai with an array of senior leaders, it was finally decided to take part in the meet. “I will announce the decision later,” Sreedharan Pillai said when Onmanorama contacted him.
However, sources said the party would demand that the state government should expressly discourage women from making plans to visit the shrine by stating publicly that it was in no haste to implement the court verdict. “Besides, it should file a clarification petition in the Supreme Court to freeze the implementation of the earlier order,” sources said.
Whether the chief minister would heed to the opposition's diktat is anybody's guess.
