Hindustantimes wants to start sending you push notifications. Click allow to subscribe

They weren’t Ayyappa devotees’: Kerala CM justifies police action in Sabarimala

Kozhikode(Kerala) | ByPress Trust of India
Nov 19, 2018 05:18 PM IST

Asserting that his government was with the devotees, Vijayan said it was being targeted for trying to implement the Supreme Court order permitting entry of all women into the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan Monday justified police action in Sabarimala, saying those who tried to create trouble were arrested on Sunday night even as he accused the Sangh Parivar of implementing its agenda.

“They were not Ayyappa devotees. RSS workers were camping at Sannidhanam with a motive to create trouble. The government cannot let anyone create trouble at Sabarimala,” the chief minister said at the state conference of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ).

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

68 persons were taken into custody from the Ayyappa temple complex in the early hours and brought to the Manniyar camp.

Asserting that his government was with the devotees, Vijayan said it was being targeted for trying to implement the Supreme Court order permitting entry of all women into the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.

The chief minister said his government was not taking any steps to take women to Lord Ayyappa temple but made it clear that post the Supreme Court verdict, it has the constitutional responsibility to provide security to women devotees reaching the hill shrine to offer prayers.

Vijayan urged the media not to fall prey to propaganda that the government was against devotees.

The government has no other way out but to implement the Supreme Court verdict on the Sabarimala issue, he said.

He alleged the Sangh Parivar was trying to implement its “agenda” in Kerala.

“As the successors of the renaissance movement, that agenda cannot be accepted,” he said.

The temple had opened Friday evening for the 64-day annual pilgrimage season as the stand-off continued over entry of menstrual age women into the shrine following a Supreme Court order on September 28.

Unveiling Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!

Get Current Updates on India News, Election 2024, Arvind Kejriwal News Live, Bihar Board 10th Result 2024 Live along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
OPEN APP