IPA Newspack
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets

IPA /

IPA Special

IPA Special

Dark Clouds Gather Over Sabarimala

By Aditya Aamir

 

Travancore Devaswom Board-initiated talks to arrive at a consensus failed Tuesday. BJP was not part of the talks but its shadow looms large. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says Supreme Court order will be implemented come what may. Ayyappa devotees say they will not allow ‘fertile women’ anywhere near the shrine come what may! The BJP’s 24-hour time given for LDF government to sort out the issue expired on October 16. What will BJP do?

 

The Bharatiya Janata Party is dealing from a curiously stacked deck of cards to the Malayali Ayyappan. The party’s state unit’s long march to prevent the “yuvati-invasion” of Sabarimala is at odds with the national BJP/RSS’s road to perdition, attempt to impose Hindu monotheism on India by denying diversity in religious practices within the Hindu fold.

 

Haji Ali was a red-herring and Shani Shingnapur a test case. Sabarimala, but for devotee-rebellion, would have been incubatory to nurse an Abrahamic version of Hinduism. Willy-nilly, the Pinarayi Vijayan government has become a Modi- aide, but the LDF wants nothing to do with Ayyappan or Hinduism. The state government cannot go for a review petition of the SC verdict because of its consistent support during the hearings for gender justice and equal rights to women. Ditto Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

The Travancore Devaswom Board of the “atheist communist government” can only do so much and not more. But it’s the BJP’s behaviour which is perplexing. Ayyappa bhakt in Kerala and Hindu diversity-virodhi in the Rest of India. What has empowered the Kerala state unit of the BJP to stake out a position of power? The silent majority rising up in opposition to Supreme Court’s verdict has changed perceptions. BJP and RSS welcomed the verdict but flipped when the tide of Ayyappa devotees clogged streets.

 

Now, we’ve the strange spectacle of the BJP at odds with itself, toeing one line in Kerala and sticking to another in all the other states – opposed to the Supreme Court’s verdict in the state and whole-heartedly endorsing the court’s order at the Centre.

A new strain of divide and rule!

 

Outside Kerala, the saffron party hails the gender-justice verdict but in Ayyappa-country, the forked-tongue bends to “anti-woman traditions and customs of kshetrams (temple-spaces).” This, as the saffron party continues to be called out for proclaiming that it’s the sole custodian of Hinduism.

 

Who is to blame? The Congress because it permitted the BJP to steal a march over it and, apprehensive of triggering violence, held back from challenging the BJP in the streets and on the road. While opposing the apex court verdict right from word go, the Congress’s state unit had no desire to be clubbed with the BJP if the protests escalated into violence.

 

The rival CPM is waiting for the Congress to make a misstep. But the Congress supporter/voter is not ‘visible’ in the sea of Ayyappa devotees and the Congress-flag remains out of sight. The undercurrent of tension between the LDF and the UDF is palpable but neither party is as belligerent as the BJP.

 

In Ayyappa-land a verdict such as the one delivered on September 28 is pregnant with possibilities. That the ‘yuvati-devotees’ outnumber the male ‘Ayyappa bhakta’ is the icing on the cake. Add Rahul Easwar’s Ayyappa Dharma Sena to the “ready to wait” and it is a potent cocktail.

 

It will do immense good to everybody if a consensus is worked out. If not there can be “upheaval” nobody wants. The feeling is the supremacy of the top court should not be contested. The top court is in recess till October 22. That gives time to sort things out.

 

That still doesn’t explain the BJP/RSS/Hindutva double-game. A study of Republic TV behaviour might explain. The channel’s programming apes the BJP playbook and this week itself its “face” anchored three “Ayyappa Specials”, which were nothing but Ayyappa and Ayyappa-devotee bashing diatribes. While toeing the BJP’s line at the Centre, the channel went all out against the state unit’s “madness.”

 

Near-total ignorance notwithstanding, the channel head has been “educating” Malayali Ayyappa devotees and shouting for “immediate arrests” and “call in the army!” Female devotees, steeped in Ayyappa lore and temple-mores, were called “ignorant people” and engaged in debates with women who claimed they were “ready-to-wait” but were “in reality Trojans!”

 

The anchor, like the all Sangh Parivaar outfits, is on a mission to unify Hindus, bring order to the chaos that sets Hinduism apart from Abrahamic religions. Not for him “kshetrams” and their diversity, the 36 million gods. Sabarimala is the laboratory to test and incubate monotheistic Hinduism, ergo mould Hindus into a single whole, devoted to a particular ideology.

 

Conspiracy theory? Of course, not. Join the dots and the picture rises in relief. BJP/RSS welcomed the Supreme Court verdict because it was fine by them and in line with their goal. But they did not expect the orderly and seemingly meek Malayali to rebel. The ‘Save Ayyappa’ campaign is as much a ‘Save Kerala’ mission. Sabarimala cannot be turned into a maternity home for Hindutva. Gender equality is fine but not at the expense of killing a God, that too in God’s Own Country!  (IPA Service)

 

 

The post Dark Clouds Gather Over Sabarimala appeared first on Newspack by India Press Agency.

IPA Newspack

IPA Special

More Russian Oil Is Making Backdoor Entry Into NATO Nations Via Saudi Arabia, UAE

June 5, 2023
IPA Special

Questions Galore About BRS Decision Not To Join Crucial Opposition Conclave

June 5, 2023
IPA Special

Secure Railway System To Prevent Balasore Like Deadly Accidents

June 5, 2023
IPA Special

Opposition Is Looking Confident Of Defeating RSS-BJP Combine In 2024

June 5, 2023
Happening Now

CBI to take over probe into Odisha train tragedy

June 5, 2023
IPA Special

More Jitters For Narendra Modi-Led BJP Before 2024 Polls

June 5, 2023
IPA Special

Uptick In Q4 GDP Growth Is Positive But Challenges Remain In Current Fiscal

June 5, 2023
IPA Special

Bengal BJP In A Quandary Over Holding 1,000 Meetings In Four Months

June 5, 2023
Happening Now

Amit Shah assurance to wrestlers on due course of law

June 5, 2023
Politics

Row over Karnataka minister’s remark on cow slaughter

June 5, 2023
Politics

No intent to address safety lapse: Kharge tells Modi

June 5, 2023
Politics

Modi driving car looking into rearview mirror, says Rahul

June 5, 2023
Politics

Rahul says people of India, and not just Cong, will defeat BJP

June 4, 2023
Politics

Mehbooba gets a passport after three-year wait

June 4, 2023
Politics

Rail minister says no time for politics after spat with Mamata

June 4, 2023
Politics

Sibal cites govt inadequacies behind Odisha rail tragedy

June 4, 2023
Politics

Rare show of appreciation for Modi from Sam Pitroda

June 4, 2023
IPA Special

Nepalese Prime Minister’s Four Day Visit Bring Ties With India Closer

June 3, 2023
IPA Special

What Will Be India’s Response To US’s Bid To Offer NATO+ Membership

June 3, 2023
IPA Special

Narendra Modi Has Been Most Successful In Using Technology For Governance

June 3, 2023

An appeal

The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.
Click here to learn more

Share

Reply

  • 0
More on IPA

More Russian Oil Is Making Backdoor Entry Into NATO Nations Via Saudi Arabia, UAE

June 5, 2023 3:56 pm | IPA Staff

By Nantoo Banerjee The cat is out of the bag. India is not the only country using imported Russian oil to export processed petro-products. West...

IPA Special

Questions Galore About BRS Decision Not To Join Crucial Opposition Conclave

June 5, 2023 3:46 pm | IPA Staff

By Sushil Kutty Sulking is common to non-BJP Chief Ministers. And opposition unity suffers. Right now the tribe of non-BJP Chief Ministers sees opportunity in...

IPA Special

Secure Railway System To Prevent Balasore Like Deadly Accidents

June 5, 2023 3:33 pm | IPA Staff

By Dr. Gyan Pathak Only few years ago, the Union Minister of Railways had claimed in the Parliament of India that they made railway journey...

IPA Special

Opposition Is Looking Confident Of Defeating RSS-BJP Combine In 2024

June 5, 2023 2:28 pm | IPA Staff

By Arun Srivastava For nine long years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been dictating political actions in India, but the expected opposition meet will not...

IPA Special

More Russian Oil Is Making Backdoor Entry Into NATO Nations Via Saudi Arabia, UAE

in IPA Special
Jun 5, 2023   ·  

Questions Galore About BRS Decision Not To Join Crucial Opposition Conclave

in IPA Special
Jun 5, 2023   ·  

Secure Railway System To Prevent Balasore Like Deadly Accidents

in IPA Special
Jun 5, 2023   ·  

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Follow us on
Up Next: BJP’s Dilemma Over #Metoo And Mj Akbar
©2020 -2021 India Press Agency, All Rights Reserved.
Newspack by India Press Agency | Statement of Ownership | Contact Us
logo
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets