Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has unleashed an attack on the Nair Service Society (NSS), accusing it of double standards. “Their stand on the government-sponsored 'women's wall' is sheer duplicity, he alleged. “They need to examine on what issues they should keep equidistance.”

“The organisation, which has a tradition of championing renaissance values, should seriously rethink whether it was right to join the RSS-sponsored Ayyappa Jyothi, because it was an effort to wreck secular traditions,” Pinarayi said.

“They should rethink whether it suited their renaissance tradition to have issued the warning that action will be taken against women who would join the wall. They should think for themselves what are the issues from which they should remain equidistant.

“All this will be seen as duplicity,” the chief minister said.

Can you stay equidistant in protecting secularism, he asked. “It's difficult to comprehend the claim that the NSS stand is for the protection of customs and traditions. What all customs prevailed in this country in the past. Can we just forget the struggles that the renaissance leaders led against them?

“The agitation that Mannam led was one of them. The Nair community had a matrilineal tradition. Has it not ended? Children born to Namboodiris in Nair women were denied inheritance of wealth. That has also changed. Leaders like Mannam played significant roles in bringing all such changes.

“Several customs changed in Sabarimala. The Devaswom Board was formed in 1949. The temple used to open only for Makaravilakku. It was decided to open the temple also during Onam. These are changes in customs that have made it more convenient for pilgrims, because the rush would be less.”

Pinarayi accused the Sangh Parivar of intervention aimed at wrecking secularism. “They deployed a group of women to send a signal that women are opposed. Considering that, we called the gathering of Hindu organisations with a renaissance tradition.

“We explained the situation. The decision to organise the women's wall was taken in that meeting. This will be a Great Wall in which women from all over the state will line up.”

He asserted that solving women's issues is part of the class struggle.

“It's not against the class struggle,” he said.