Aryama Sundaram will be smiling on November 13, Tuesday, when he appears before the Constitution Bench on behalf of the Travancore Devaswam Board, (the Kerala Government department that administers the temples in the State) to argue why the apex court verdict allowing women of child bearing age into Kerala’s Sabarimala Temple should stay.
Aryama Sundaram, senior advocate, is the grandson of Sir C P Ramaswamy Aiyar, the former Dewan of the princely State of Travancore who was physically assaulted and driven away from Trivandrum by the Communists. November 13 also marks the 139th birth anniversary of Sir CP Ramaswamy Aiyar (Sir CP to friends and acquaintances) making it a sweet revenge for Sundaram.
The Communists may be performing an atonement for the sins they committed against Sir CP in 1947 by pleading with his grandson to save them from a major embarrassment. In their over enthusiasm to implement the court verdict, the CPI-M led Government has become thoroughly unpopular with the devotees.
On September 28, a Constitution Bench led by the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra had lifted the long standing ban on the entry of women in the child bearing age to the temple in a 4-1 verdict. Devotees including women had come out and staged rallies against the verdict in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Various organisations has filed pleas in the apex court challenging the September 28 verdict. The court will hear the pleas on Tuesday because the festival season of Sabarimala commences on November 17. The shrine had witnessed massive protest against the move by the CPI(M)-led Kerala Government to allow women in the temple.
More than 4,000 devotees have been arrested under various section of the IPC to prevent untoward incidents. The Travancore Devaswam Board has sought the services of Sir CP’s grandson to argue in the court in support of the September 28 verdict.
Travancore witnessed unprecedented economic and social development during Sir CP’s tenure as the Dewan (1936-1947). Sir C P accepted the post of Dewan on the condition that all temples in the princely State should be thrown opened to the untouchables who hitherto were not allowed inside temples. “It was at the instance of Sir CP the temple gates were thrown open for the lowers castes on November 23, 1936, the birthday of the then Maharaja of Travancore,” reminiscences Dr Nanditha Krishna, Sir CP’s great granddaughter.
Sir CP who saw through the evil designs of the Communists and took an uncompromising stance against any kind of anti-development activities. He suppressed the violent uprising organised by the Communists against the State under the pretext of agrarian agitation which later earned the sobriquet of Punnapra Vayalar Struggle. The Lefts retaliated by deputing a party worker to assassinate Sir CP who was seriously injured during an attack on him on July 25, 1947. Later, after ensuring that the State of Travancore was acceded to the Union of India, Sir CP submitted his resignation as Dewan and left Trivandrum on August 18, 1947 for Coonnor.
The Marxists in Kerala keep on attacking Sir CP, who passed away in 1966. Those who had participated in the Punnapra- Vayalar agitations later conceded that it was a ploy by the Lefts to tarnish the image of Sir CP.