NEW DELHI, Mar 14: In a climb down from its unqualified support for the entry of women of menstrual age into the famed Sabarimala Temple, the Kerala Government said the question of ban as an essential religious practice should be answered by the Supreme Court only after assessing the “impartial” opinion of “social reformers and religious scholars.”
The poll-bound State, in its written submissions before the apex court, said “previous experience in the matter of Sabarimala shrine and the response of devotees, including women devotees”, should be considered.
The Sabarimala petitions would be part of multiple cases coming up before a nine-judge Constitution Bench on the question of what constitutes an “essential religious practice.” On April 7, a nine-judge Bench will begin hearing the review of the 2018 five-judge Bench’s verdict in the Sabarimala case. The Supreme Court Bench had then held that prohibiting women between the ages of 10 and 50 years from entering the Sabarimala Temple violated Article 25(1) of the Constitution.
Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan on Saturday denied there was any change and claimed that the State government’s stance on women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple had been consistent with the affidavit it filed in 2007 in the Supreme Court.
“We filed an affidavit in 2007 stating that the issue should be decided by experts in ritualistic matters. We are still maintaining that stance,” the Minister told media persons, responding to queries regarding the affidavit to be submitted by the State government before the nine member bench of the Supreme Court.
According to the Minister, the Supreme Court has only sought clarification on certain constitutional aspects of the matter. “We have entrusted the Advocate General and constitutional experts in the Supreme Court to present the response,” he said. “The party’s stance is the same as the government’s. The government is with the devotees. We have always been with the devotees,” he added.
When asked about the State government’s actions following the 2018 Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to enter Sabarimala, Mr Vasavan said the government’s position should be understood in the context of the 2007 affidavit. “If the Supreme Court gives any verdict, can we say anything against it? The women’s entry was the decision of the apex court of the country,” he said.
He further alleged that the 2018 verdict came after women lawyers associated with the BJP approached the Supreme Court. “It was BJP’s young lawyers who filed the case and received the verdict. They then called it a historic judgment. But they soon changed their position,” he said. The Minister also alleged that attempts to facilitate women’s entry in 2018 were made by BJP activists.
Holding that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government would always go by the Supreme Court’s verdict, the Minister also rejected allegations that the State government had taken any special interest in facilitating the entry of women of menstruating age into Sabarimala in 2018.
(Manas Dasgupta)