Demand for Pinarayi Vijayan’s resignation

Members of the Sabarimala Samrakshana Samiti have demanded Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to tender his resignation for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus.

The Samiti members on Tuesday also compared the Kerala chief minister to Tipu Sultan.

A protest was staged in front of the deputy commissioner’s office on Tuesday.

Samiti leader Ganesh Poduva, who addressed the activists, said that the arrest of Ayyappa devotees at Sabarimala was unfortunate. The police have been treating devotees offering prayers to the deity were treated as petty criminals, he added.

Poduva said the Kerala chief minister is intolerant to Hindu religion.

He also alleged that IPS officer Yatish Chandra had forced police personnel to wear leather belts and shoes at Sabarimala Kshetra.

‘Missionaries responsible’

Hindu Jagarana Vedike Prantha secretary Radhakrishna Adyantaya said that the devotees of Sabarimala and Hindu devotees do not need sermons on how to respect women from activists like Tripti Desai.

“The Hindu community has been showing great respect to women,” he insisted.

He, meanwhile, suspected the role of Christian missionaries behind the anti-Hindu activism at Sabarimala.

“The Communist government in Kerala, along with the Christian missionaries, has been hatching a conspiracy to destroy the sanctity of Sabarimala Kshetra and to take possession of the land belonging to the temple,” he alleged.

Temple hundi

Mangaluru North MLA Dr Y Bharat Shetty has condemned the manner in which the devotees were dragged out of Sabarimala by the police for chanting the Lord’s name. “The Communist government in Kerala has been targeting Hindus. Devotees of Lord Ayyappa should not contribute even a rupee at the donation box in Sabarimala,” he urged.

Guruswamy Vishwanath Shetty, who has been carrying out pilgrimage to Sabarimala for the past 46 years, declared that the pilgrims have decided not to contribute money at the temple. “Instead, they will drop a chit containing the deity’s name into the donation box,” he added.

The Sabarimala Samrakshana Samiti members also said that they will stand by the Ayyappa’s devotees. Police forces cannot stop lakhs of devotees going to Sabarimala, they stated.

The protesters shouted slogans against the Kerala state government and the Kerala police.

The protestors shouted slogans against Kerala state government and Kerala police. Vishwa Hindu Parishad district president Jagadish Shenava, zonal secretary Sharan Pumpwell, BJP district general secretary Capt Brijesh Chowta, corporator Roopa D Bangera, Samiti leaders Santhosh Shenoy and M M Prabhu were present at the protest.