CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Friday slammed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) by alleging that the right-wing organisation is following the same pattern during the Sabarimala row as it did during Babri Masjid demolition.
Equating the two, Yechury was referring to TV crews being roughed up during the Sabarimala protests and incidents of violence.
Yechury said that the way in which women are roughed up is similar to the time of Babri Masjid demolition, news agency ANI reported.
“You have the heads of the volunteers wearing saffron bands, the same dress you found there (Babri Masjid demolition),” Yechury added.
The CPI (M) leader furthered accused the RSS of pre-organising the protests/incidents of violence in Kerala.
However, Yechury said that despite the efforts by RSS, the right-wing organisation lost the battle of not letting the gates of Sabarimala temple open.
“They even lost the battle that the temple shouldn’t open on time,” Yechury added.
Earlier on Friday, two women — a reporter from Hyderabad and another said to be an activist from Kerala — were denied entry in the temple at the Valiya Nadappandhal near Sabarimala Sannidhanam.
The two women who began trekking to Sabarimala hill in Kerala accompanied by at least a 100 policemen led by IG S Sreejithhave were forced to return after male devotees and priests joined in the protests. A third woman devotee was forced to return midway after she was stopped by protesters at Pamba while trying to make her way to the Lord Ayyappa temple.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress and BJP on Friday hit out at the Left government in Kerala for allegedly extending support to bring women activists to Sabarimala temple, hurting the sentiments of devotees.
They also alleged the police gave one of the women, who climbed to the hill shrine amid heavy security, their official uniform and helmet.
The two women, identified as a journalist from Hyderabad and a Kochi-based activist, trekked Sabarimala and reached a few metres away from the holy 18 steps with police escort but had to return due to massive protest by devotees.
Attacking the CPI(M)-led LDF government on the issue, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala asked whether the police gave security to the real devotees.
“Has the government taken to the shrine the real devotees? Is the entry of women into the shrine a commando operation? Is this the supreme court order?” he asked.
“The government has extended support to bring activists to Sabarimala, hurting the sentiments of Lord Ayyappa devotees,” Chennithala said.
Earlier in the day, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran admitted that one of the women who trekked to the shrine was an activist and made it clear that holy Sabarimala was not a place to show their strength and activism.
Referring to the massive protest at the temple complex by the devotees and the ‘parikarmies’, the assistants of the priests, Chennithala said the “illogical” steps taken by the government on the Sabarimala women entry issue had led to this situation.
He also reiterated the UDF stand that the Pinarayi Vijayan government showed “over-enthusiasm” and “hurry” to implement the apex court order permitting women of all age groups into the Lord Ayyappa temple.
The government unilaterally moved forward on the matter without trying for a consensus among stakeholders, he said.
Chennithala also alleged that the BJP-RSS combine was trying to inflame communal passion over the matter.
Hitting out at the LDF government, BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai said the state authorities were trying to make Sabarimala a “clash zone”.
The police escorted two women to the shrine by making one of them wear police uniform and a helmet, without considering the sentiments of the devotees, he alleged.
A large number of devotees blocked the young women and police team escorting them at Valiya Nadappandhal, the queue complex located a few metres away from the holy ‘pathinettam padi’ (the 18 sacred steps), leading to the sanctum sanctorum.
Tension was defused after the women agreed to return as the state government made it clear it did not want to take them to the Sannidhanam, the temple complex, by using force against the protesting devotees.
(With Agency Inputs)
Source: Zee News