Kerala: CPM in tight spot over decision to hold Global Ayyappa conclave

Thiruvananthapuram: The ruling CPM in Kerala seems to be caught up in a tight spot over the decision to hold Global Ayyappa conclave.

A day after reports of the government and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) succumbing to the pressure of Hindu outfits and deciding not to invite political party leaders to the event, the TDB that manages the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple is now under pressure to change its earlier 'progressive' stand in favour of allowing women of all ages to the hill shrine.

BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Sunday asked whether TDB would change the stand taken at the Supreme Court in favour of allowing women of all ages. The board president said on Monday that the board will discuss with legal experts and try to inform the Supreme Court about the customs and beliefs of the Ayyappa temple.

Even as the CPM was trying to project the event to be held on the banks of the holy Pamba river near Sabarimala on September 20 as a non-political event, it was being widely interpreted as a political ploy to woo the Hindu voters as the local body polls and assembly elections are approaching.

With the Nair Service Society (NSS) that represents the upper caste Nair community openly expressing displeasure over making it a political event, the state government is learnt to have decided not to invite political party representatives to the event but only invite representatives of devotees and Hindu outfits.

Even as the event was initially projected as one being organised by the state government and the Devaswom Board, the CPM government is now maintaining that it was an event of the Devaswaom Board only and the state government was only supporting it. Widespread criticism of a secular government organizing a religious event had compelled the CPM to change its stand.

Now the major challenge that the CPM government is facing is whether women in the restricted age of 10-50 would be allowed to attend the event, especially since Bindu Ammini, one of the two women in the 10-50 age group who entered the temple in 2019, already announced her desire to attend the event.

While Devaswom minister V N Vasavan said that only true devotees would be allowed at the temple, the CPM is facing a counter campaign whether Chief Minster Pinarayi Vijayan, who is scheduled to inaugurate the event, is a true devotee.

The government and the TDB is of the stand that beliefs and customs pertaining to Sabarimala Ayyappa temple would not be breached at the conclave.

However, since the event is happening at Pampa where there is no restriction on women, disallowing women in the 10-50 age group at the event could trigger criticism against the government.

The progressive campaigns that the CPM initiated following the women entry row in 2018-19 is now being widely criticised as a farce.