KOCHI: The Supreme Court’s decision on Tuesday to consider the review petitions on its Constitution Bench verdict on women’s entry into Sabarimala and its refusal to stay the order itself has put the state’s cops in a fix.
No sooner had the court announced its decision than senior police officers led by state police chief Loknath Behera huddled for an emergency meeting to chalk out future course of action at the hill shrine.
It will be safe to say the Kerala Police is now confused and lacks a clear idea on how to handle the situation if any one of the nearly 550 women who have booked darshan at Sabarimala through the police portal turns up at the hill shrine during this Mandala-Makaravilakku season.
It is learnt the Police Department will now apprise the state government of the major challenges if this happens.Much now depends on how the state government handles the sticky situation during the annual pilgrimage season beginning November 17, say senior cops. “With the Supreme Court not staying the earlier order, the state police have no choice but to facilitate the darshan for the young women who turn up at Sabarimala. It won’t be easy,” one of the senior cops told ‘Express’.
“Considering the huge rush of pilgrims at Sabarimala all the way from Pampa to Sannidhanam, it won’t be easy for the police to escort a young woman to Sannidhanam. A minor scuffle or use of force will lead to a stampede and lead to loss of lives,” the officer said.
IG (Thrissur Range) M R Ajith Kumar, who was in charge of Sabarimala when the temple opened for Chithira Atta Vishesham on November 5, had to device timely police action plan at Sabarimala following mounting protests by devotees whenever a woman aged between 10 and 50 arrives for darshan.
A ground-level assessment done by the police during the last two occasions, when the temple opened briefly, revealed the deployment of large number of police personnel at Sabarimala will not be of much use in handling the protesting devotees at Sannidhanam.