Thiruvananthapuram: As the Sabarimala standoff continues, it is the UDF that had found itself in the most unenviable position. It just was not in a position to decide who its major rival was.
As for the other two formations, picking the chief rival was a no-brainer. That the Congress did not figure as a political rival for both the LDF and the Sangh Parivar intensified the embarrassment of the Congress.
The dilemma of the Congress, which leads the UDF, has stemmed from the need to be seen as pro-faithful. The Congress should have been the natural inheritor of the pro-faithful leadership as its governments had never favoured the dilution of Sabarimala customs. But this role has been effectively usurped by the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. Though it wants to be firmly with the faithful, the Congress's scariest nightmare is the possibility that it might be perceived as playing second fiddle to the Sangh Parivar.
The fear of such a perception gaining ground could have been why K Muraleedharan, the chairman of the KPCC's campaign committee, emphasised the other day that the BJP was the Congress's biggest rival. The agitations that the Congress had mounted in Sabarimala failed to acquire the edge the BJP had managed to give its campaign. Congress leader K Sudhakaran's hyper-aggression seemed like a stray voice that was repeatedly disowned by the party. The aggressive posturing of the BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders, and their dramatic arrests, have made Congress's attempts at fighting for the faithful seem half-hearted and feeble.
Congress's non-Hindu trump card
Nonetheless, the alleged police high-handedness in Sabarimala on November 18 and the High Court's admonishment of the police, have helped the UDF to finally make up its mind. For the time being, it has been decided that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and his police, will be the chief rival.
The UDF high-power committee that met on Monday decided to demonstrate some high-wattage aggression, too. Senior Congress leaders led by opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala will violate the prohibitory orders in place at Sabarimala on November 20. But here is how the UDF has decided to charge up the atmosphere: They will line up an array of non-Hindu leaders in the vanguard of the Sabarimala march. Chennithala will be accompanied by former chief minister Oommen Chandy, Kerala Congress (Mani) leader P J Joseph, Muslim League leader M K Muneer, and UDF convenor Benny Behanan.
By doing this, the UDF also hopes to give the Sabarimala agitation a flavour different from what the Sangh Parivar had been imbuing it till now. "The BJP is trying an exclusionary approach. They had even gone to court saying non-Hindus should not be allowed inside Sabarimala. Ours is but an inclusive approach. It is also an attempt to further establish the secular nature of the hill shrine," a top Congress leader said.
Pinarayi will be villain No. 1
The presence of non-Hindu leaders will be more symbolic in nature. The aggression , however, will be directed at the Pinarayi Vijayan government. A government that is preventing the faithful from having a 'darshan' of Lord Ayyappa is committing the worst injustice in history," opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said. He wants the government to withdraw the curfew. "The High Court's observations should come as an eye-opener," he said.
The High Court observed on Monday that police excess cannot be permitted in Sabarimala in the guise of implementing the SC judgment on women entry. It even asked the state attorney general on what authority the police had restricted the right to worship of devotees. The UDF will also demand that the arrested devotees be freed immediately.
In fact, the new line is a victory for KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran who had been a strong votary of aggressively taking on the LDF government. Ramachandran said that what was happening in Sabarimala was a gross violation of human rights.
The temple had opened Friday evening for the 64-day annual pilgrimage season as the stand-off continued over entry of child-bearing age women into the shrine following a Supreme Court order on September 28.
