Kerala govt oppressing Sabarimala devotees, says RSS chief at VHP meet

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat Thursday accused the Kerala government of oppressing devotees of Lord Ayyappa by exceeding the judicial mandate on the Sabarimala temple.

This has led the Hindu society deeply disturbed and agitated, he said at the Vishva Hindu Parishad's 'dharm sansad' (religious council) here.

"We support this agitation of the Hindu society as the petitioners to the judiciary were not Lord Ayyappa's devotees," he said at the meeting, presided by Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Vasudevanand Sarswati.

"There are many moves afoot to divide the Hindu society. Accordingly, it's the need of the hour to reunite the segmented Hindus through a religious renaissance," the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief said.

The meet, which began Thursday, was also addressed by Yoga guru Ramdev, who called for a common civil code.

The VHP's religious council was also addressed by Swami Parmanand, who likened the ongoing Sabarimala agitation in Kerala to that over building a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

He alleged that for the last few years a "mischievous effort" is consistently being made to undermine and destroy the Hindu traditions and faith.

The seer said the agitation to secure entry of women of any age in the Sabarimala temple is a fresh example of that "mischievous effort".

He said the temple has also been made a centre of stir in the past either on the pretext of environmental degradation or in the name of modernity and gender empowerment.

"The Sabarimala temple was subjected to arson in 1950 by Christians, who installed a cross in its precincts in 1982," he alleged.

"Nowadays, thousands of Muslim women are engaged in forming human chains to undermine the agitation against the faith and tradition of Sabarimala temple. All these examples expose the conspiracy of mischievous efforts against the Hindus," he claimed.

He said the country's seers welcome the struggle of Lord Ayyappa's devotees, specially the Hindu women, Arya Samaj, Peoples for Dharma and other Hindu organisations which are spearheading it.

Another seer, Swami Govind Dev Giri Ji Maharaj listed the Dalit Maratha dispute at Bhima-Koregaon or the Pathalgadhi agitation in Jharkhand to seclude the scheduled tribes there as parts of the "conspiracy" to disintegrate the Hindu society.

The VHP religious meet was attended by over 200 seers including Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Narendracharya Ji Maharaj, Jagadguru Ramanujacharya Hansdevacharya Ji Maharaj, Nirmal Peethadhishwar Shrimahanth Gyandev, Swami Jitendranath, Satpal Maharaj, Swami Viyoganand Ji Maharaj and Swami Nrityagopaldas Ji Maharaj.