BJP takes Sabarimala fight to President, accuses Kerala govt of appeasement

New Delhi, Jan 9: Taking its fight against the Left government in Kerala over the Sabarimala issue to the President, the BJP Wednesday accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's administration of practising "lowest form of appeasement" to divide Hindus by using "constitutional provisions as a tool".

A BJP delegation submitted a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind, seeking his urgent intervention to ensure peace in Sabarimala and the state.

Due to imposition of Section 144 in the area, even the usual group chanting of rhymes and 'bhajan' have been prohibited, the memorandum said, alleging that the Left government is trying to "destroy" age old traditions and pious beliefs of Hindus on the "pretext" of complying with the court order.

Protests, often marred by violence, have rocked parts of the state after the government moved to implement an apex court order, lifting ban on women of menstruating age to enter the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.

The BJP and Hindutva organisations like the RSS have blamed the CPI(M), which leads the Left front government in Kerala, for violence while the ruling party has accused the right-wing groups of fomenting unrest.

The BJP memorandum said Hindu institutions and the Sabarimala board, which manages the temple's affairs, has filed an appeal in the court to reconsider its order and that the state government should have waited for hearing before "forcefully" enforcing the verdict.

The court has fixed January 22 as the date for hearing.

The BJP said there are many apex court orders yet to be implemented but the state government moved "hastily" to implement this decision.

"This indicates that they (state government) are acting with a prejudicial mindset and are running their hidden agenda of dividing the Hindus and destroying their religious institutions and hurting their beliefs," it claimed.

The CPI(M) government is targeting the devotees, and BJP and RSS workers, it alleged.

"The government on the pretext of complying with the Supreme Court order is trying to destroy the age old traditions and pious religious beliefs of Hindus using the constitutional provisions as a tool," it added.

The government and the local police are "cunningly doing a conspiracy to malign" the holy pilgrimage of Sabarimala by helping women of other religions entering the premises, the memorandum claimed.

"The police even provided these women their uniform to disguise them as one of their own. This is the lowest level of appeasement against Hindus," it said.

The BJP delegation said the party's state general secretary K Surendran was in custody for days. The government harassed him by opening old political cases against him and moving him from one jail to another, it alleged in its submission to the President.

The delegation comprised of its national general secretary and MP Saroj Pandey, state chief P S Sreedharan and several other members of Parliament.

They also accused the state government of not providing basic amenities to pilgrims which, they alleged, has led to a decline in footfall, causing loss of revenue to the board and also the state.

PTI