Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s hattrick-seeking Left Democratic Front (LDF) has found itself on a sticky wicket with the Supreme Court setting the dates for hearing review petitions on the 2018 ruling allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple.
The SC will be constituting a nine-judge bench to hear a cultch of long-pending petitions relating to one of the hotly debated questions that traverses the realms of faith, tradition and constitutional rights.
Also to be considered with the Sabarimala issue are petitions concerning certain practices followed by different faiths that exclude women.
The Supreme Court has asked Kerala Government to make a written submission on the matter by March 12.
The development has compelled the LDF leadership to make a hard choice, which is going to be politically embarrassing either way.
Indications are that the government would scale down from its earlier position that favoured lifting the traditional bar on women of menstruating age entering and worshiping the temple.
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The government will have to face the fury of millions if it sticks to its original position. On the other hand, making a quiet climb down from its much-touted ‘progressive’ stand would mean bowing to public pressure for the sake of power.
The government is in position to resort to time-buying tactics since the apex court has already set the schedule for hearing.
As of now, the LDF top brass has declined to give a definite clue on how it is going to wriggle out of the tangle.
The CPI (M) general secretary M A Baby held that there was nothing wrong in avoiding conflicts in the society. He, however, said this with the caveat that this was a general observation and had no direct bearing on the particular issue, on which the government would formulate an appropriate stand.
Both the Congress-led UDF and the BJP have seized on the issue as a major campaign point to take on the LDF.
Congress leaders have dared the government to make its position clear, instead of dilly-dallying.
The opposition leader V D Satheesan went on to say that in the event of the UDF coming to power it would withdraw the affidavit filed earlier by the LDF government in the apex court favouring women’s entry to the temple.
The BJP is certain to make it a key election theme, along with other scams that have cropped up in relations to Sabarimala temple under the LDF rule.
In 2018, the Pinarayi Vijayan government had openly endorsed the SC ruling lifting the bar on women of all ages to enter Sabarimala temple. The government even took some pro-active steps to have it implemented, amid stiff resistance from the no-changers.
The government’s stance then triggered a massive public outcry, which saw large sections of the Hindus, cutting across political divides, rallying against the implementation of the order.
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An entire pilgrimage season got marred by confrontation over the issue then.
As a counter move, the CPI(M) sought to bolster its position by roping in some of Hindu community organisations. The party organised a campaign , pretentiously called ‘renaissance’ movement, setting its prime objective as bringing to an end obsolete traditions and practices targeted against women.
The party, however, beat a tactical retreat as the campaign petered out without bringing any political gains. Also, the LDF suffered a crushing defeat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The aggressive posturing on Sabarimala was said to have contributed to electoral drubbing.
At the time, decision of the apex court to have a detailed scrutiny of the issues involved came as a time-saver for the government.
In 2021 assembly elections, the LDF took a strategic position of avoiding any talk on the Sabarimala issue. Though that alone was not the clincher that handed over a second a consecutive mandate for the LDF under the leadership of Vijayan, the tactical shift on Sabarimala too helped the coalition.
Significantly, the apex court setting the dates for hearing the long-delayed matter coincides with a combination of developments related to Sabarimala casting a shadow on the LDF’s poll campaign.
The government has been under fire since the lid went off the systematic loot of precious gold that embellished the sanctum sanctorum of the temple.
The probe by the Special Investigation Team, monitored by the Kerala High Court, led to the arrest of two former heads of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) appointed by the LDF government in the past.
The temple ‘thantri’ (the traditional high priest), some senior officials and a conman who pivoted the loot were arrested. Some of them had obtained bail as the SIT is yet to file the chargesheet.
Before the gold scandal erupted , the TDB had organised a Global Ayyappa Samgamam last year, with the support of the government.
The stated objective of the conclave was to mobilise support and funds for the sustainable development of Sabarimala as one of world’s largest pilgrim centres. Its sub-text, however, was to ramp up the support of the majority community in favour of the LDF.
The TDB, and the government as well, is now facing allegations of serious misappropriation of money in connection with the event, sparking a fresh round of fire between the LDF and its opponents.
