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Why BJP leadership is silent on Sabarimala Temple controversy

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Stung by #MeToo, BJP brass is worried that supporting Sabarimala Temple protests may hand opposition another weapon to attack it for being anti-women.

New Delhi: The central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is letting its Kerala unit spearhead the Sabarimala Temple showdown, afraid its own participation may land the party on the wrong side of the gender equality debate.

In an election year and at a time when the party faced criticism for failing to act against Union minister M.J. Akbar — he resigned Wednesday — accused of sexual assault and harassment by multiple women, it will be a setback the BJP can ill afford, a top source said.

Devotees as well as members of the Kerala BJP and Congress, among others, have mounted impassioned protests against last month’s Supreme Court order allowing women of all ages entry to the temple’s sanctum. Earlier, women between 10 and 50 years were barred entry into the sanctum.

Given that the reigning deity, Lord Ayyappa, is said to have been a sworn bachelor who even spurned a devoted partner in light of his pledge, the decision did not go down well among devotees.


Also read: I’m no revolutionary, says 32-year-old Kerala teacher as she readies for Sabarimala trip


Outside Kerala

While state BJP president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai said recently that he would meet every villager to chalk out an agitation plan to “protect” the Sabarimala Temple and its centuries-old tradition, the BJP leadership in Delhi is tightlipped as it fears being tagged anti-women’s-rights by the opposition.

In fact, the mandate to speak on the issue has been handed over to the Kerala unit, with many national spokespersons refusing comment.

“If it comes down to women’s rights and equality of women and their right to enter the temple, there are chances of getting browbeaten by half the population outside the state,” said a senior Union minister.

“We are as it is facing a backlash on an issue pertaining to our ministers,” the minister added. “We do not want to be projected as anti-women by the opposition yet again.”

“This is an election year. We have every reason to make sure we keep this debate on faith and not on gender,” the minister added.

The BJP has proclaimed women’s rights as a part of its core agenda, which is why it’s treading cautiously.

The Narendra Modi government has led the fight against triple talaq, pushed toilet construction as essential to protecting women’s self-respect, and introduced a Haj policy that allows a group of women to make the pilgrimage without being accompanied by a male.

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, meanwhile, has been the party’s anthem, especially in states with a skewed sex ratio.

Inside Kerala

For the Congress and the BJP in Kerala, the issue serves as an opportunity to corner the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front state government, which has called for the Supreme Court order to be honoured.

Through the protests, the state BJP leadership is seeking to project the alliance as anti-Hindu.

The BJP and the RSS claim that the state’s Pinarayi Vijayan government had misled the apex court and deliberately lost the case to harm the Hindu faith.

BJP national secretary P. Murlidhar Rao, the party’s go-to man for matters in the south and among those authorised to speak on the issue, said the blame for the current confusion lay with Vijayan, even as he said the protesters were well within their rights to seek a review.


Also read: At the heart of Sabarimala Temple’s bar on women lies a story of unrequited love


“The demand for review is not undemocratic,” he said. “There is a saying in our houses that you can go to God and his abode on Earth only when he or she calls you.”

Rao insisted that the protests were not about gender, but tradition.

“This is an issue of belief and faith more than anything else,” he said. “If the devotees are asking for a review within the judicial framework, what is the harm?”

J. Nandkumar, the RSS’ Kerala face and national convener of the Sangh thinktank Prajna Pravah, an RSS thinktank, said, “The day the verdict came, the Travancore Devaswom Board (which manages the temple) demanded a review but the CM publicly scolded the board president.

“The Communist party has a plan to sabotage believers,” he added, “Their approach is to destroy the belief system of Hindus. I believe there should be a proper discussion with all the stakeholders.”

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