BENGALURU: Sangh Parivar organisations have decided to strengthen protests in the wake of Sabarimala controversy with the backing of BJP that is already holding a Rath Yatra in Kerala.
The South India edition of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s annual bhaitak held in Mangaluru has decided to throw the Parivar’s weight behind ‘Sabarimala Action Committee’ and its plan to organise largescale ‘awareness gatherings’ in Kerala. One such gathering has been scheduled to be held on December 10 and RSS has decided to extend its support for the cause of ‘protecting Hindu beliefs’.
In a bid to make the issue a pan-South India movement, Parivar organisations have decided to back a December 10 ‘meeting’ of seers, religious heads and Aiyappa devotees in Pampa. BJP national president Amit Shah, who took part in the Bhaitak on Wednesday and Thursday, is said to have assured RSS leaders of his party’s full support to the cause.
BJP is looking to make an impact in bypolls for Manjeshwaram Assembly seat and prepare groundwork to win at least three Lok Sabha seats from Kerala with the momentum it is gaining from Sabarimala issue.
“The question is not of politics but Hindu beliefs. No institution should be allowed to interfere in religious matters. We have to take stringent steps to protect our faith,” a senior RSS functionary said. Discussions to organise protests during Makara Jyothi across southern states is also under consideration, sources said. While the Sangh will not call for protests, it will back all organisations coming together to protest against menstruating women’s entry into the sanctum sanctorum. The Baithak also decided to back Akhila Bharatiya Santha Mahasabha’s call for simultaneous conventions over Ram Mandir on November 25.
“Conventions will be held simultaneously in Bengaluru, Ayodhya and Nagpur on November 25. We will gather for a massive rally in New Delhi on December 9,” an RSS source said. While the call for the convention has been given by Santh Mahasabha, Vishwa Hindu Parishad will support the movement. The conventions will suggest three options to the government to speed up the process of constructing Ram Mandir,” a senior Sangh Parivar member said.