Sabarimala sanctum sanctorum opened at 4 am on November 17. The temple witnessed a massive rush of devotees two years after the pandemic-induced disruptions were lifted. A handbook issued by the Kerala home department for police personnel deputed at the Sabarimala hill shrine, which said ‘all pilgrims are permitted entry’ at the temple as per a 2018 Supreme Court order, was withdrawn after it sparked controversy.
This instruction to the police officers made it clear that the government is ready to allow women between the age 10-50 to enter Sabarimala in violation of the ancient tradition at the shrine dedicated to the naishtika brahmachari form of Sri Ayyappa. Experts said that the government used cheap gimmicks to divert public attention from controversies like nepotism, PFI terrorism, and the gold smuggling scandal. Others pointed out that the Marxists are testing the water to check Hindu sentiments. It is also unknown how many similar circulars have been issued to disrupt Hindu rituals and traditions.
The Kerala government tried to bring the stalemate back but agreed to withdraw the guidebook that allowed the entry of women aged between ten and fifty. Temple affairs minister K Radhakrishnan promised that the handbook would be reprinted after it drew massive protests from Hindu devotees and top BJP leaders who warned of another wave of protests. He noted that neither the government nor the Devaswom board has any ‘harmful intentions’. Incidentally, the same minister had drawn flak when he disrespected holy water from Sabarimala and refused to consume it, instead just rubbing it over his hands.
Radhakrishnan’s timid response to revoke the handbook was in sharp contrast to 2018 when CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his cronies used brutal police force to physically harm devotees of Bhagwan Ayyappa who opposed their invasions into Sabarimala. Thousands were jailed, women and children were harassed, and crores were spent on a Vanitha Mathil (Wall of Women) using mostly hijab-wearing ladies and Christian nuns. Back then, so-called ‘secular’ Marxists promised to do everything in their power to break age-old traditions at Sabarimala and hurt Hindus.
The cash-strapped government is also eyeing the vast donations that Hindu devotees from all over south Bharat are expected to bring. Numbers have steadily dropped since 2018 after devotees prolonged their pilgrimage due to the hostile policies adopted by courts, Marxists, and Abrahamics against Bhagwan Ayyappa and his sacred abode.
Even though status quo should be maintained as a review petition has been filed challenging the 2018 verdict, the Kerala government home department, controlled by CM Vijayan, appears to have tried to set the stage for ritual violation. Suspiciously, the controversial instruction is point number one and appears on the first page of a home department instruction booklet distributed to police officers at Sannidhanam and Pamba.
Currently, a seven-member SC constitution bench is reviewing the Sabarimala women’s entry decision. On 13 December 2019, a three-member bench presided over by then Chief Justice SA Bobde had declined to pass an order on the plea of two women petitioners to allow them entry into the Sabarimala temple.
That plea was filed by Rehana Fatima and feminist/activist Bindu Ammini, demanding that they be provided with security to enter Sabarimala. Both are Keralite communists who held government jobs. Rehana Fatima has a history of anti-Hindu acts and bizarre activism such as allowing her minor children to paint on her semi-nude body. The SC stated that a decision could only be taken after the verdict of the seven-member bench.
The handbook contained instructions to police officers and claimed that the Supreme Court’s ruling on women’s entry on 28 September 2018 ‘remains in place’. The latest guidebook also included information about how the police should treat pilgrims, their specific duty points, and puja timings at Sabarimala.
2018 Hindu agitations to maintain sanctity of Sabarimala
Back in 2018, Hindu devotees (women included) resisted the courts, communist rulers, and their anti-Hindu Abrahamic paymasters. These dark forces wanted the temple desecrated and considered it a point of pride. Ayyappa devotees showed their enemies the power of Hindu unity. Peaceful protests and Ayyappa Namajapa Yathras rocked the state from Kasargode to Thiruvananthapuram.
Initially, the Communist party’s response was to condemn those protests as exclusive to the ‘Upper caste’ population. The CPM’s explicit goal was to divide the Hindu population along caste lines. When that trick failed, they tried to term the protests as ‘RSS communalism’. Fellow leftist media were delegated to unleash massive propaganda and misinformation that dominated significant television networks and publications.
When all their schemes went ineffective, the communists let loose a band of dubious characters like Bindu Ammini, Rehana Fathima, Trupti Desai, and Kanaka Durga to desecrate the Sabarimala temple. Hundreds of left-leaning police officers tried to escort these ladies into the temple. While some failed, Bindu Ammini and Kanaka Durga managed to enter the temple under cover of darkness.
Notorious leftist anti-nationals like Teesta Setalavad termed these shady characters as ‘brave trailblazers’. Leftist hypocrisy became apparent when they remained silent after Kerala police arrested 6 Hindu ladies who visited the nearby Vavar Mosque. And yes, the same hijab-clad women who participated in the communist Women’s Wall are not allowed entry into mosques.
Sabarimala Tantri Kandararu Rajeevararu closed the temple for purification rituals following the entry of two women of menstruating age. Communists used Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A. Padmakumar who asked the Tantri to continue without performing the purification rituals. However, the Tantri told the TDB president that the purification rituals would be done.
Priests closed the sanctum sanctorum at 10.35 a.m. to perform the purification rites in the wake of official confirmation of the entry of two young women into the temple. Darshan was resumed after the ceremonies by 11.25 a.m. Communists bayed for the Tantri’s blood, but many political leaders came to his rescue.
Ultimately, their green communist paymasters dumped all these lady activists. Earlier this month, Ammini took to Facebook and said she was embarking on a long journey. She begged anyone to pay for her accommodation and travel charges. Netizens asked her to work and earn a living.
Fathima has been in and out of jail, lost her government job and her live-in partner deserted her. Last month, Fathima’s mother, Pyari, filed a police report alleging that her daughter and her ex-partner had been regularly tormenting her physically and mentally. The Kerala Muslim Jama’ath Council has expelled Rehana and her family from the Muslim community. Unlike with Hindus, deserting or criticizing Islam usually has dire consequences.
In June, Kanaka Durga married a former Naxalite and has put activism on the back burner. Her husband and his comrades once held the then-Palakkad collector WR Reddy hostage in 1996.
The less said about how CM Vijayan has suffered since then, the better. He allegedly has prostate cancer, which has been acting up lately. The Marxist leader has chosen to get treated not in ‘number one Kerala’ but in the United States of America, where he visits once every six months. All expenses are, of course, borne by the taxpaying Malayalis. For his Sabarimala dirty tricks, many consider him the modern-day Aurangzeb.
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the then-CPM state secretary, recently died from cancer. He was tasked with justifying and threatening those who opposed the Communist atrocities against Hindus during the Sabarimala agitation. Though Balakrishnan tried his best to create splinters in Hindu unity using the usual ‘upper caste’ ‘lower caste’ tools that communists often use, he failed spectacularly. His son, Binoy Kodiyeri, has let go of ‘dialectical materialism’ and has chosen bhakti (devotion). He is often seen praying to Bhagwan Ayyappa at Sabarimala, along with his children from his first marriage.
Political aftermath
Their 2018 tricks in Sabarimala led to a disgraceful defeat for the communists in the 2019 parliamentary elections. Having remained silent during the Hindu protests, come elections, Congress shamelessly turned pro-Hindu and pro-Sabarimala. They reaped the benefits and won 19 out of the 20 seats sending even rabidly anti-Hindu Rahul Gandhi to parliament.
Marxist leaders acted like they understood their folly, secretly reached compromises with anti-Hindu forces like the SDPI, and undertook a door-to-door campaign. Local CPM Hindu leaders visited Hindu homes, justified their actions in Sabarimala, begged for forgiveness, promised not to repeat such mistakes, and easily gullible Hindus pardoned them.
The Communist’s anti-Hindu antics over Sabarimala won them many hardline Abrahamic admirers. Both Christian and Muslim political leaders joined hands with them. The communists reaped the benefits in the 2020 local bodies and retained their rule in the 2021 assembly elections. Hindu Keralites send a record 99 LDF (Left coalition led by CPM) MLAs to the Kerala Assembly out of the 140 seats available.
Those Hindus who voted must now be feeling extremely bitter. The communists have now become blinded by power and openly admit that since the voters have chosen them again, they should also face the consequences. Hindus will now have to suffer in silence. The less said about how the top BJP leadership in Kerala has performed, the better.
Having led the Sabarimala protests, they became complacent and took the mood of the Hindus during the agitation as approval for their performance. Election results proved they were completely wrong. They did nothing to publicize the successful socialist policies of the PM Modi-led central government and instead imitated cheap communist tricks. Local BJP leaders tried to bank solely on the narrative of CPM being immersed in corruption, nepotism, and gold smuggling scams. This wasn’t enough, and the BJP vote share dipped from 20% to 15%.
