Govt. thwarts bid to stoke protest over Sabarimala

The Sabarimala Ayyappa temple may continue to be devoid of believers as the State government deferred its decision on entry of pilgrims to the hill shrine. (Source: File photo)

By deferring its decision on the entry of pilgrims to Sabarimala, the State government has aborted a bid to politicise the issue and keep it smouldering in the run-up to the local body and Assembly elections.

After turning a deaf ear to the repeated assertions of the government and the Travancore Devaswom Board that the decision to open Sabarimala and other temples was made in consonance with the Central government guidelines, a group of Sangh Parivar organisations and the Bharatiya Janata Party were gearing up to raise a banner of revolt.

Senses trouble

But the government and the board sensed the trouble in store, refused to court the controversy and conceded the chief priest’s (Tantri) demand. The board and government could also dispel a notion which was sought to be created that they were at loggerheads with the chief priest.

The government has taken the sting of the allegation that the decision to open the temples was motivated by its urge to fill the Devaswom coffers and not in honour of devotee sentiment. A restricted pilgrim flow would not have increased the volume of contributions but would have forced the board to spend a substantial sum from its paltry resources for disinfecting the temple and its precincts and also deploying more staff for observing the COVID-19 protocol.

UDF stand

While the Sangh Parivar organisations and the BJP attempted to kick off a political storm on the issue, the United Democratic Front chose to keep its options open. Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and K. Muraleedharan, MP, vociferously raised the demand to reopen places of worship, while other leaders opted to steer clear of the issue.

Prospects of the issue snowballing into an anti-government protest have been doused and the government has clarified that it prioritised public safety more than anything.

An exhortation of the Parivar organisations not to make contributions to temples under various Devaswom boards may come in handy for the government to put them in the mat. Since the government has scraped the sheen of the temple issue, the Parivar organisations may look for new ones to take on the government yet again.