Kerala Chief Minister PInarayi Vijayan said that the Tantri ( the chief priest) at the Sabarimala temple should relinquish charge if he is not in a position to abide by the Supreme Court order.

Vijayan told this to newspersons here this morning in response to the 'purification rituals' conducted On Wednesday after it was confirmed that two young women had entered the premises.

‘Violation of court order’

"This clearly amounts to violation of the court order. After all, the Tantri and the Devaswom Board (temple administration) were parties to the case, and were heard as well," he said.

"I'm not contesting the right of the Tantri to disagree with the order. In which case, he should state as much in public, and relinquish charge. Only the Devaswom Board can take a decision on closing down the temple, as was done arbitrarily by the Tantri yesterday (Wednesday), subsequent to which the purification rituals were performed. The Tantri's action amounts to a violation of not just the Supreme Court order but also the Devaswom Manual,” the Chief Minister said.

He denied allegations that the government was 'hell-bent' on facilitating the trek uphill by young women or was being disrespectful to faith. But it also had a duty to fulfill a constitutional obligation here.

The Supreme Court had, in a historic order on September 28, 2018, thrown open the temple for women, invalidating extant restrictions placed on the child-bearing age-group.

The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) was duty-bound to implement the order, the Chief Minister reiterated even as protests during a state-wide hartal called by the Sangh Parivar outfits peaked.

At least one death was reported from Pandalam in Central Kerala after an activist of the Sabarimala Karma Samiti, an RSS-affiliate, was killed when its march was pelted with stones last night.

The BJP-RSS-NDA and the Sangh Parivar have staged protests across the state from September demanding that traditions and rituals at Sabarimala be maintained at all costs.

The protests soon started acquiring political colours as election year 2019 loomed, and the LDF, the BJP and the main Opposition Congress launching separate campaigns based on Sabarimala.

The protests had initially peaked as the temple opened the first time in October after the Supreme Court delivered its historic order, and saw pitched battles between the police and the Parivar activists.

Later in December, protests near the temple and neighbourhood was withdrawn and the BJP opened a new campaign front with relay indefinite fast in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram.

This was followed by the 'Ayyappa Jyothi' vigil by women devotees from North to South of the state while the LDF responded by erecting a government-sponsored 'Women's Wall' on New year Day.

Entry of the two young women into the temple premises the very next day has triggered allegations that it was engineered by the LDF even as lakhs of its women volunteers were heading home.

Kerala’s Chief Minister denied these allegations saying it was the bounden duty of the police and the administration to provide protection to whoever demanded it for purposes of performing the darshan.

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