By
P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A ‘Left-Right
combination’ has left Kerala staggering, and turned the state into a political
battleground.
Ironically,
the New Year began with a bang for the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF)
government. The Women’s Wall programme launched by the LDF was acclaimed as a
runaway success even by its detractors. The 620-km-long wall, constructed to
protect reformation values and promote the concept of gender equality, left the
LDF’s political rivals stunned while it galvanized the LDF cadres. The LDF had
every reason to gloat over the unique event’s success, which could even make it
to the Guinness Book of Records.
However,
that was not to be. The very next day, a cock-a-hoop Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan sprang an unpleasant surprise by facilitating Sabarimala darshan to two
young women. Kanakadurga (44) and Bindu (42) entered the sanctum sanctorum of
the holy shrine with the help of police in the early hours of January 2 to
become the first women in the menstruating-age to scale the hill shrine.
Hell
has broken loose since then. The young women’s visit has stirred a hornets’
nest with the BJP-RSS going berserk and unleashing violence across the state.
Offices of the CPI(M) and the CPI were attacked and burnt in many places. Many
cities and towns witnessed virtual street fights between the CPI(M) workers and
BJP-RSS cadres. A hartal called by the Sabarimala Karma Samiti, an umbrella
organization of Hindus, made life miserable for the people. Traders put up a
stiff resistance refusing to down the shutters in many places, incurring the
wrath of angry RSS-BJP cadres. Though police had promised protection, it was
not forthcoming. As a result, traders bore the full brunt of the saffron
brigade’s anger.
The
government’s misstep has also infused new life into the agitation launched by
the BJP-RSS, which had all but fizzled out. The saffron camp was finding it
extremely difficult to sustain the stir, which had to be shifted from
Sabarimala to the State Secretariat in the state capital. The BJP itself was
sharply divided over the future of the stir.
It
was against this backdrop that the Ayyappa darshan of the two young women came.
It proved to be manna from heaven for the BJP-RSS. And they fully exploited the
situation by unleashing violence across the state. Even the media personnel,
especially women, were brutally attacked, forcing the former to boycott the
press conferences addressed by senior BJP leaders.
The
faux pas by the Vijayan government has undone the big gains the government had
made by organizing the Women’s Wall programme. The government had succeeded in
rebutting the opposition criticism – that the Hindus-only programme was aimed
at dividing communities – by enlisting the support of a large number of Muslim
and Christian women as well. But all the good work and the goodwill generated by
the unique event are now at risk of being undone. If the Women’s Wall was a
political masterstroke, the darshan by the young women was a political blunder
of the first order, which could exact a heavy price from the LDF in terms of
political and electoral support.
What
passes one’s comprehension is: what was the need for rushing the young women to
Sabarimala? The Supreme Court is set to hear petitions on the Sabarimala issue
on January 22. The government could have waited till then. The unseemly hurry to
‘implement’ the SC verdict has created a major political crisis and a serious
breakdown of law and order. Besides, the government’s monumental folly has
enabled the BJP-RSS to regain lost ground. It may sound a bit harsh. But there
is substance in the Congress charge that the LDF government has given the
saffron camp a new lease of life by its thoughtless action.
Having
said that, it must also be stated that the BJP-RSS combine has also alienated
large sections of people by unleashing violence in the name of protesting
against the government’s action. That no senior leader has deemed it fit to
condemn the violence adds insult to injury.
How
the turbulent scenario would evolve remains to be seen. Signs are that the
saffron camp in Kerala is determined to keep the agitation going. (IPA Service)
The post CM’s Blunder Revives BJP-RSS Agitation appeared first on Newspack by India Press Agency.
