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Regular-article-logo Saturday, 11 May 2024

Protest against Sabarimala verdict

Essential services will be allowed during the dawn-to-dusk shutdown across the state

K.M. Rakesh Bangalore Published 29.09.18, 10:01 PM
The Sabarimala temple

The Sabarimala temple File picture

The Shiv Sena has called for a Kerala-wide shutdown on Monday against Friday’s Supreme Court judgment that lifted the age bar on women at the Sabarimala temple, while various devotees’ groups are exploring the possibility of a joint review petition.

Essential services will be allowed during the dawn-to-dusk shutdown across the state. Although the Sena’s Kerala wing lacks the kind of following required to enforce a general strike, its announcement reflects the mood among pro-Hindu groups.

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M.S. Bhuvanachandran, the Sena’s Kerala “rajyapramukh”, told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram that his party was against the courts interfering with centuries-old religious traditions.

“Such traditions of our temples were in force even before the formation of the country and the Constitution. It is the job of the temple priests and religious scholars to decide if a change is needed,” he said.

Bhuvanachandran said the Sena would move a review petition.

The Travancore Devaswom Board, the state government-appointed autonomous body that runs the temple, also wants to file a review petition. The Left Front government has welcomed the verdict.

Some influential devotees of the hill shrine are consulting lawyers on the possibility of a joint petition.

P.G. Sasikumar Varma, member of the erstwhile Pandalam royal family which was once the temple’s custodian, told The Telegraph: “Our lawyer is waiting for a certified copy of the court order before we chalk out our next step.”

He added: “We are talking to all stakeholders to examine the possibility of filing just one review petition.”

This, he said, would help unify all the devotees in the fight for “justice”. The Pandalam family had impleaded itself as a party to the case.

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