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HomePoliticsAt Kumbh meet, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat attacks SC over Sabarimala verdict

At Kumbh meet, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat attacks SC over Sabarimala verdict

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RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat says Supreme Court did not consider the feelings of the ‘majoritarian Hindu community’, asserts temples not ‘public places’.  

Lucknow: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Supreme Court, saying the highest constitutional court “did not think” about how its Sabarimala temple order would “hurt the feelings” of the “majoritarian Hindu community” in the country.

“This is the question of a specific temple and its traditions that have been protected by the Constitution. The decision was made in a hurry,” Bhagwat said at the two-day Dharma Sansad organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) at the Kumbh in Prayagraj, formerly Allahabad.

He also disagreed with the court order that a “temple is a public place”.

“The order says that God has no legal entity and temple is a public place and hence we can apply rules there,” he said. “It is true that everyone can visit places of worship of all religions but it is not a public place. It is a place of a community and it has its own traditions and its own discipline,” Bhagwat added.

“The court did not think that this will hurt feelings and respect of crores of majoritarian Hindu population,” he said. “We believe that the honourable court wants to correct everything in the country…but they did not get the expected results.”

Addressing a gathering of seers and members of Hindu Right-wing groups, Bhagwat asserted that “women were not being discriminated against” at the temple.

“There are four temples there (Sabarimala) and except this, everyone is permitted to enter the other three,” he said. “There are around 70,000 women on a WhatsApp group who say that they accept this and are ready to stop (not enter the temple).”


Also read: SC to hear plea of 2 women seeking security after they entered Sabarimala temple


‘Conspiracy by Kerala government’

Bhagwat also saw a conspiracy involving the Kerala government and “party members along with organisations who are planning to divide the country”.

“The court said that if a woman wants to visit Ayyappa, then the state should provide security for her visit through the common entrance,” he said. “But what is happening — no one wants to go and that is why women from as far as Sri Lanka are being brought and made to enter through the back door. If you are doing something legally, then use the front door.”

Ramdev invokes Ram Temple

Also in attendance at the VHP event was the yoga ‘guru’ and entrepreneur Ramdev called for the implementation of a “common civil code” and, unlike Bhagwat, invoked the Ram mandir row.

“The Ram mandir should be built, along with the development of character and the development of the country,” he said.

The yoga guru-turned-businessman, however, had another demand. “We say that we will produce two children, some say we will have 10 children,” Ramdev said. “Voting rights of those who produce more than two children should be taken away along with their access to government schemes.”

The two-day-long VHP event is centred on the Ram Mandir issue and a proposal on the subject will be discussed at Dharma Sansad Friday. Hours before the VHP meet, another Kumbh meeting of seers Wednesday had declared that a march to Ayodhya should take place on 21 February and should end with laying the foundation stone of the Ram temple.


Also read: Techies may have answer to Sabarimala, Ayodhya rows — but are temples or mosques ready?


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