Amit Shah to visit Sabarimala Temple, BJP backs devotees

BJP President Amit Shah may visit Kerala’s famous Sabarimala Temple during the upcoming Mandalakalam pilgrimage season to offer prayers at the hill Shrine. A senior Kerala unit BJP leader told PTI in Thiruvananthapuram, “The BJP president has expressed desire to visit the Sabarimala temple. But no decision has been taken so far.”

Speculations of Amit Shah’s visit comes days after he declared BJP’s support to Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees. He also lambasted the Communist government of Kerala for perpetuating atrocities against devotees of Bhagwan Ayyappa. In his invigorating speech, Amit Shah launched a blistering attack against the incumbent Communist government of the state and their callously adamant attitude against Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees on Sabarimala Temple verdict. Amit Shah said, “The Kerala government in the name of Supreme Court’s judgment is creating a rift, but my question is why only this judgment? There are so many judgments that you don’t follow such as Jallikattu and others. Why only Sabarimala judgment? They have created an atmosphere of emergency in Kerala.”

Amit Shah further added, “If you (ruling government) don’t listen and still carry on with your step, the BJP workers will make sure you will be put down by them. The BJP workers of Kerala will stand with the devotees of Ayyappa at all cost. LDF and UDF are trying to destroy our culture and development. And the development of Kerala is possible only under the leadership of PM Modi. For the protection of our culture, our struggle is still on. Join hands with BJP to preserve our culture.”

On Sunday, in a mark of protest against the brutalities unleashed by state’s communist government against Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees, the BJP led NDA government has announced to carry out a ‘Rath Yatra’ from Kasaragod to Sabarimala between November 8th to 13^th. The yatra will also be aimed at preserving the customs and traditions of the famous Sabarimala temple.

So far, the Kerala police has arrested 3,505 protesters for allegedly creating violence in connection with the apex court’s verdict, allowing entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple. 529 cases were registered across the state till yesterday.  Seeing all this, it will not be an exaggeration to say that there is an emergency like situation in Kerala and Amit Shah’s  pledge to support the Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees will prove out to be a crucial on the part of BJP. Suresh Kumar and Anoj Kumar of the Sabarimala Achara Samrakshana Samithi had knocked the doors of the Kerala high court, claiming that unlawful arrests were being made by the police. In their petition, they alleged that even peaceful protestors were being targeted and harassed. They further claimed that in some of the cases police were manufacturing cases against devotees after taking them into custody.  The two petitioners told the court that the police harassed even those devotees who participated in the “Nama Japa Yajnam” (chanting of Ayyappa mantras). 

The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tried every trick in his book to crush the peaceful protest of Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees on the Sabarimala issue but suffered an abject failure. The brutal action adopted by his government turned a peaceful and serene place of worship-Sabarimala Temple- into a war zone. This callous attitude towards Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees is going to be the final nail in the coffin for the communist rule in Kerala. The BJP and the RSS are on the side of Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees in their struggle to protect their custom, beliefs, traditions and their right to practice their religion. The RSS and the BJP support the feelings and sentiments of Bhagwan Ayyappa at a time when the state government has shown complete disregard for their feelings. In this battle of ‘dharma’ vs ‘adharma’, RSS and the BJP are supporting Dharma and the communists are against it.