Kerala buys time on Sabarimala stand

With the Supreme Court declining to stay its earlier order allowing the entry of women in 10-50 age group to Sabarimala temple, and some women groups announcing they would visit the temple soon, the Left-front government in Kerala is in a fix on the steps to take, as the temple opens for the two-month-long pilgrimage season this Saturday.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said his government needs to seek an expert legal opinion on the SC order's implication. The general opinion was that there was no stay on the earlier order lifting the ban on the entry of women. But since there were different opinions among the judges, a legal opinion was required for clarity, the Chief Minister said.

To repeated queries on what the government would do if women turn up at the temple, Chief Minister said that there was still time to take a decision on the matter. The government is firm on the stand that SC order would be implemented, he added.

The Chief Minister's statement could be interpreted as a mellowing of his stance since last year when he made was adamant about implementing the SC order, allowing women of all ages into the temple.

The government's stance was even considered a key reason for Left-Front's debacle in the last Lok Sabha elections.

Putting the state government in a tight spot, activist Trupti Desai and Bindu Ammini, announced on Thursday that they would visit Sabarimala temple this time too.

Last year, Trupti had to return from Kochi airport owing to protest, while Bindu, along with another woman Kanaka Durga, managed to enter the temple with tight police cover.

The Congress and the BJP demanded that the government not implement its earlier agenda of deliberately allowing women in 10-50 age group into the Ayyappa shrine.

While Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress said that the government should not try to create a problem by prompting women to enter Sabarimala temple, BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekharan urged the government to prevent women in the 10-50 age group from entering the temple, until a final review of the SC order came.

The police have made elaborate security arrangements for the Sabarimala pilgrimage beginning on Saturday, and ending on January 20. About 2,500 police personnel would be on Sabarimala security duty round the clock.

Last year's Sabarimala pilgrimage was marked with widespread tension with BJP-RSS and various Hindu outfits trying to block women in 10-50 age group who tried to enter the Ayyappa shrine, which is located at Pathanamthitta district in South Kerala.