BJP scoffs at Left's changing stance on Sabarimala; says 'Pain ahead of polls only'

Reacting to the Left's change in stance on the Sabarimala Temple issue, Union MoS External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Thursday, scoffed at it. He stated that the 'pain of Devasom Minister Kadakampally Surendran' only cropped up ahead of Assembly polls. The Left stated that entry of women into the Sabarimala Temple should never have happened, changing his stance from hailing the Supreme Court's verdict.

BJP scoffs at Left's change in Sabarimala stance

Earlier in the day, Surendran said that the events that perspired following the Supreme Court verdict 'pained' him - presumably referring to the protests and the forcible entry of several women into the temple. He assured that the ruling LDF government would implement the final verdict of the court only after consultation with devotees, political parties and the general public. The CP(M) leader's comments come just ahead of the Kerala Assembly polls where its rival Congress has promised a law to 'protect devotees of Ayyappa'.

"The incident that took place in Sabarimala in 2018 was something which had pained all of us. It should never have happened. It has pained everyone...it has pained me also," PTI quoted Surendran saying. BJP has dismissed Surendran's statement and sought an apology for whatever he had done at the Lord Ayyappa temple. The LDF government has withdrawn cases against people who protested the SC verdict allowing women's entry in Sabarimala temple and those booked during anti-CAA protests 'that are not serious in nature'.

The Sabarimala row

On September 28, 2018, the SC lifted the ban on entry of women belonging to all age groups in the Sabarimala temple, which sparked off huge protests across Kerala. The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) which manages the shrine, argued that the SC could not interfere with a century-old belief. The ban on entry of women has been justified on the grounds that Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity is celibate. On the other hand, the LDF government supported the verdict maintaining that religious practices that clashed with fundamental rights could be set aside, forming human chains in support of the decision.

Both BJP and Congress rallied against the SC's decision, claiming the 'Right to pray'. While Rahul Gandhi differed from his party's view saying 'Women should be allowed to go anywhere they want', then-BJP chief Amit Shah maintained that the Court should not interfere in any religion's customs. Later in 2019,  a 5-member constitution bench referred the Sabarimala review pleas to a 7-member larger bench by a 3:2 verdict. While delivering its verdict, the apex court clubbed the entry of women in mosques and the tower of silence, the legality of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community along with the Sabarimala issue. While there is no stay on the earlier judgment which allowed the entry of women between the age group of 10 to 50 years into Sabarimala temple, the Kerala government has not allowed women to enter the temple.