SabarimalaThiruvananthapuram, Oct 13 (PTI) Kerala ministerKadakampally Surendran today flayed the reported remark ofTravancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president that even if thecourt lifted a ban on entry of women in the Sabarimala Temple,"respectable women" would not go to the hill shrine.
TDB chief Prayar Gopalakrishnan reportedly made theremark while welcoming the Supreme Court decision to refer thematter relating to the ban on entry of women between 10 to 50years of age to the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala, to itsconstitution bench.
The president of TDB, that manages the shrine, maintainedthat the board stuck to its stand that the restriction to theentry of women in the age group of 10-50 should continue.
"We will not allow Sabarimala to become Thailand," hereportedly said.
Kerala Minister for Devaswom and Tourism KadakampallySurendran said he had insulted the women community andAyyappa devotees with such a comparison.
He wanted the TDB president to tender an apology for hisremark.
Surendran also said that the CPI(M)-led LDF government inthe state was of the view that there should not be gender-based discrimination for entry in temples.
"We will abide by the court ruling," he said.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misratoday framed five "significant" questions to be dealt with bythe constitution bench, including whether the practice ofbanning entry of women in the temple amounted todiscrimination and violated their fundamental rights under theconstitution.
The management of the Sabarimala Temple, located on ahilltop in the Western Ghats of Pathanamthitta district, hadearlier told the apex court that the ban on entry of womenaged between 10 and 50 years is because they cannot maintain"purity" on account of menstruation. PTI JRK BNSRY.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.