Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister Pinaray Vijayan on Tuesday reiterated that it was the constitutional responsibility of the government to implement the Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of women belonging to all ages in Sabarimala temple. The government is going ahead with the decisions to discharge this constitutional responsibility,he said.
Mr Vijayan said while implementing the apex court verdict the government would respect the faith of the believers. The government does not want Sabarimala to be turned into a battlefield. The government intends to provide all facilities to devotees as per the SC verdict to visit the temple and have peaceful darshan.
He said the government cannot deny police security to women willing to go to temple in the wake of Supreme Court verdict.
The chief minister indicated that the lawlessness created by Sangh Parivar goons would not be allowed. Soon after the temple was opened for Thula masa puja the Sangh Parivar outfits resorted to activities intended to create violence. Neither the government nor the police went to block the devotees.
He said a pandal was erected at Nilackal by the protesters. However, the protesters started checking the identity cards and personal details of before allowing them to climb further. The women were attacked in a targeted manner and hurdles were created for devotees.
Mr Vijayan said journalists came under severe attack. The protesters threatened that if the journalists didn’t report as directed, they would be attacked. This kind of situation has never happened in Kerala. The agitation created obstacles for devotees visiting Sabarimala. The agitators violated all rules and took law into their hands . It was at this stage the police intervened to provide security to the devotees.
“Women who arrived in Sabarimala faced stones and mental harassment. Their houses were targeted. All this was not done by Ayyappa devotees. They implemented the Sangh Parivar’s devious agenda. The Sangh Parivar had collected the details of the women and devised a strategy to attack their houses. Voice messages of Sangh parivar activists were circulated urging their colleagues to reach Sabarimala in the garb of devotees, carry irumudi kettu like objects. This operation was led by the RSS,” he said.
The Sangh Parivar had declared that women between the age group of 10 and 50 would be blocked. However those who were not in this age group were also intercepted. Devotees who came from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were forced to return. The attacks were unleashed defying the Supreme Court verdict.
