Defying Supreme Court ruling on Sabarimala not contempt: Action Committee

The Sabarimala Action Committee, a group of various Hindutva outfits, Sunday said defying

the Supreme Court ruling on the Lord Ayyappa temple does not amount to its contempt as the order was against tradition and faith.

Constitutional and religious moralities are different and these should not be mixed and confused at all, SAC General Secretary A R Mohan said here.

"The Supreme Court ruling is against the tradition and religious faith. Defying it cannot be termed as contempt of the court as 49 review petitions have been filed and hearing will start soon," he told at a press conference.

Mohan is in Assam to gather information about diversified characteristics of places of worships in the state to present them before the Supreme Court during hearing of the review petitions for the Sabarimala case.

 

The Supreme Court on September 29 lifted the ban on entry of girls and women between 10 and 50 years of age into Sabarimala temple, the shrine of Lord Ayyappa, the "eternally celibate" deity.

Mohan alleged that the CPI(M)-led Kerala government have been pushing women allied with various "ultra organisations", especially those having close links with the Maoist ideology.

"People who have no faith in religion or in Lord Ayyappa were brought in to the temple with active support of the administration and the police. The devotees who opposed them were lathicharged and over 5,000 FIRs were lodged against them," Mohan said.

Kerala has been on boil since January 2 following the visit of two women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala under police protection.

He claimed the state government has unleashed an "administrative terror" on innocent devotees, who are agitating to protect their right to worship in the traditional way.

The "state sponsored violence" on the Ayyappa devotees in the name of upholding the Supreme Court judgement is a challenge to the spirit of democracy, he added.