‘Experts should decide’: LDF govt on Sabarimala women entry; BJP demands apology | India News
New Delhi: Kerala minister VN Vasavan on Saturday said the CPM-led LDF government stands by the affidavit submitted. Supreme Court On the Sabarimala women’s entry issue in 2007, blaming the BJP for the 2018 verdict was alleging that women of menstrual age were allowed to enter the temple.Responding to questions about the affidavit filed before a nine-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court, Vasavan said the government’s stand remained unchanged – that the question of allowing women of menstrual age to enter the Sabarimala temple should be decided by experts on rituals, news agency PTI reported.“We said in our 2007 affidavit that the matter should be decided by ritual experts. We have maintained that position,” the minister said.He clarified that the Supreme Court did not currently seek the state government’s stand on women’s entry, but sought clarification on some constitutional questions. He also said the state has tasked the advocate general and constitutional experts to submit its response to the court.Vasavan also blamed BJP-linked lawyers for the legal battle that led to the Supreme Court’s 2018 verdict to allow women of all ages to enter hill temples.“It was the young lawyers associated with the BJP who went to the Supreme Court and later hailed the judgment as historic. Now they are taking a different stand,” he alleged.Rejecting allegations that the LDF government had taken special interest in facilitating women’s entry into temples after the 2018 verdict, the minister said the state had only implemented the Supreme Court order.“If the Supreme Court gives a verdict, how can we oppose it? Women’s entry was a decision of the Supreme Court,” he said.The 2018 verdict sparked massive protests across Kerala and the Supreme Court is currently hearing a review petition on the verdict.Meanwhile, CPM general secretary MA Baby said the LDF government implemented the court order in 2018 as it was legally bound.“Then, there were hardly any political parties who did not welcome the verdict. Later some of them changed their position,” he said, adding that the court itself is now reviewing the earlier verdict.He also said that when matters involving religious traditions are examined, the views of ritual experts and social reformers acceptable to the masses may also be considered.On the other hand, BJP state general secretary MT Ramesh claimed that the Kerala government’s new affidavit amounted to an admission of its earlier mistakes.“The BJP demands that the state government apologize to Ayyappa devotees,” he said, questioning why the government had changed its stand after strongly supporting reforms in 2018.Ramesh also alleged that more than 10,000 cases were registered against people who took part in the protests during the agitation on the Sabarimala issue and demanded that these cases be withdrawn in light of the government’s new stand.
