Whatever hopes the common man had about the law and order situation in Kerala becoming normal following the Friday decision of the Travancore Devaswom Board to approach the Supreme Court with a plea seeking more time to implement the September 28 verdict of the Constitution Bench on Sabarimala Temple diminished as the police took into preventive custody KP Sasikala, leader of the Hindu Aikya Vedi — an umbrella organisation of all Hindu outfits — which is protesting against the SC judgment on Sabarimala.
Sasikala — a widely respected woman activist who is in the forefront of the agitation against the apex court verdict allowing entry of women of all ages to Sabarimala Temple — who was on her way to the temple with Irumudi (the sacred bag containing offerings to the deity which could be opened only at the sanctum), was arrested by the police when she entered the Pathanamthitta district and was taken to the police station at Ranni. This led to widespread condemnation and hundreds of devotees rushed to the police station singing hymns in praise of Lord Ayyappa.
Sasikala was released on bail by the sub-divisional magistrate of Thiruvalla on Saturday evening. Speaking to the media, she said the Government has unleashed an unprecedented violation of human rights. “The Kerala Government and Travancore Devaswom Board have failed to provide even basic amenities like toilet and resting places to the devotees. The authorities want to cover up these shortcomings,” said Sasikala.
The arrest of Sasikala led the Hindu organisations in the State declaring a dawn to dusk hartal on Saturday and it turned out to be total.
Public transport stayed off the roads, shops and establishments downed shutters and Kerala resembled a ghost State.
The Government fielded Kadakampalli Surendran, the CPI(M)’s Minister for Devaswom and Tourism, who lambasted the BJP and the RSS for the breakdown in normal life. “The Hindu outfits are trying to polarise the Kerala population on communal lines. The BJP and the RSS do not want peace in Kerala,” said the Minister while briefing the media at Thiruvananthapuram. He described Sasikala who was arrested on late Friday night as a terrorist and communalist.
The arrest of Sasikala who was on her way to the shrine earned the wrath of all Hindu leaders across the States of Kerala, Karnataka and Katnataka. Swamy Chidanandapuri, head of Advaitha Asram at Kulathoor said that this is the first time in the history that a devotee on his/her way to Sabarimala with Irumudy was arrested. “Once you pack the Irumudy with offerings to the deity and set on the pilgrimage, no force could touch the devotee till he/she reached the shrine and offered the Irumudi at the sanctum,” said Chidanandapuri.
Rama Gopalan, the octogenarian leader of Tamil Nadu’s Hindu Front too condemned the action of the Kerala Police. J Nandakumar, all India convener, Prajna Pravah (the RSS think tank) charged that the present attack on Ayyappa devotees is part of an international conspiracy to destroy Sabarimala Temple, a symbol of Hindu unification. He wanted a thorough probe into the conspiracy in which names of leaders of the CPI(M) and top bureaucrats figure.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala blamed the RSS and the CPI(M) for the present impasse. “Both these organisations want to destroy the peace in Kerala and they don’t want a trouble-free atmosphere in the State,” charged the Congress leader.
