Kerala BJP president Sreedharan Pillai has claimed that the protests against the entry of women at Sabarimala were “almost planned” by his party. Pillai made these claims at a closed-door meeting of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Kozhikode. The whole conversation was recorded and later aired by Malayalam television news channels last evening.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Pillai can be heard saying that he had advised the head priest of the temple that ‘locking’ the shrine’s doors to sanctum sanctorum would ‘not amount to contempt of court’. The Supreme Court last month allowed women of all age groups to enter the shrine. However, the Ayappa devotees protested against the verdict and blocked the entry of women.
Last month, Kerala police tried to accompany two women — journalist Kavitha Jakkal and activist Rehana Fathima — to the sanctum sanctorum, but the head priest threatened to shut the doors of the temple if they tried to enter. Both the women had to return midway.
Speaking about this incident, the state BJP president is heard saying: “When the tantri (head priest) called me, he asked, ‘Will not locking it (nada) be contempt of court?’ But I told him it is not contempt of court, and that if the court decides to take contempt of court action, then it would be against us first…Thirumeni, you are not alone, there would be thousands of people, I told him. He (head priest) told me that he believed my words.”
According to the report, Pillai also claimed that everyone followed the agenda the BJP had put forward. “One after another, everyone exited the scene after surrendering before us…the agitation in the Malayalam month was almost planned by the BJP,” he said.
Pillai’s claims have triggered a massive political war since all political parties have so far maintained that the protests at Sabarimala were being carried out by Ayappa devotees. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has hit out at Pillai and said: “Evidence has surfaced that BJP leaders in the state connived to create trouble in Sabarimala. It must be noted that their state president himself was involved in the ruse. This is highly condemnable.”
Vijayan was earlier criticised for not being able to implement the top court’s order on Sabarimala.