THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Calling for a concerted effort to fight attempts to break the “secular mind’’ of the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the Supreme Court verdict on women entry in Sabarimala cannot be overcome through an ordinance or legislation.
Since the SC had ruled the ban on women aged 10 to 50 unconstitutional, even people with scant knowledge of the law understand that it would be impossible to reinstate something that is unconstitutional through an ordinance, he said.
Addressing an explanatory meeting organised here by the LDF on the September verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the hill shrine, Pinarayi said the government was duty-bound to enforce the apex court verdict.
“Any government in a country that has rule of law can adopt only such a stance,” he said, addressing a huge gathering at the Putharikkandam Maidan here.
The government will not file a review petition as it had already submitted in court that it would implement the SC decision, whatever form it took, he said.
The real aim behind the ongoing protests is not to shower abuse on the LDF government or the CPM, but to fracture the secular mind of the state that was forged through the renaissance movement, said the CM.
Traditions and customs change over time. Social reformation has invariably faced stiff opposition, but reformers like Narayana Guru, Ayyankali and Chattambi Swamikal also taught that customs are there to be violated, he said.
People should clearly recognise the danger that lurks in the argument that faith is above constitutional values. Such an argument can be easily extended to the Babri Masjid and the call for the Ram temple, he said.
According to the CM, women between the age of 10 and 50 have entered Sabarimala in the past, but it was since 1991 that the ban was put in place. In its verdict, the SC has made it clear that it is clearly unconstitutional.
The government and the CPM do not relish a confrontation with the devotees. They have always stood for religious freedom. But the CPM has also never remained sheepish when it comes to protecting the attacked from attackers, he said. The Congress and the BJP, which had welcomed the SC verdict initially, were trying to isolate the government through the protests, he said.
In fact, both parties had advocated allowing women to enter the temple when the case was progressing, he said.
By joining the RSS-backed protests in Thalassery, it has become clear that the “RSS mind” is getting stronger in the Congress party, he said.