The Congress-led UDF alleged that the law and order had collapsed in Kerala following the violence during a shutdown called by saffron outfits on Thursday to protest against the entry of two women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala temple.
Terming it a "state-sponsored action", the party said the "immature" and "arrogant" approach displayed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in handling the issue was the reason for the tension,
"The law-and-order situation in the state would not have collapsed had the chief minister shown maturity in handling the Sabarimala issue," United Democratic Front (UDF) convenor Benny Behanan said at a press conference here.
The Congress leader said Vijayan's decision to allow women of menstruating age into the temple had "undermined the sentiments" of the Ayyappa devotees.
"Such actions are against the principles of renaissance. Even women, who participated in the wall of women protest organised by the government for bringing renaissance in the state, are saddened by the state-sponsored action in Sabarimala," he added.
Behanan said steps were also taken to create a favourable ground for the BJP and RSS to grow in Kerala. "We condemn the violence unleashed by BJP and Sangh Parivar over the Sabarimala issue."
The dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by Sabarimala Karma Samithi, an umbrella organisation of various pro-Hindutva groups, and the Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP) plunged the state into turmoil, as hundreds of Hindu right-wing activists disrupted vehicular movement and vandalised shops and offices of the ruling CPI(M).
Bindu and Kanakadurga, two women in their 40s, had defied dire threats from saffron organisations and offered prayers at the temple that was out of bounds for girls and women between 10 and 50 years of age, breaking the centuries-old tradition and infuriating the Hindu right.
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