Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala (File photo) 
Kerala

Ramesh Chennithala demands action against cops for allowing woman devotee to wear uniform to enter Sabarimala

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala has demanded that a case should be registered against IG S Sreejith and other officers who allowed a woman devotee to wear police uniform to enter Sabarimala.

This is a clear violation of Section 43 (4) of the Kerala Police Act, Chennithala said. He termed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's UAE trip to mobilise funds for the Rebuild Kerala initiative during such an explosive situation ''untimely,'' and said he should have returned to the state. Chennithala said he had met Governor P Sathasaivam and conveyed his apprehensions regarding the situation in the hill shrine.

He blamed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of adopting a provocative stand on the Sabarimala verdict and the BJP-RSS of exploiting it. On whether the government should have ignored the SC verdict, Chennithala said there were many Supreme Court verdicts that were yet to be implemented.

''I'm not going into the legal aspects of the issue. The government should've taken a mature stand. Sabarimala is not a tourist place,'' he said. He said that the BJP-RSS were exploiting the situation in Sabarimala to push through their communal agenda. Had the UDF been in power, the entire issue would have been dealt with in a friendly, mature manner, he said.

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