Kerala CM Vijyan blames RSS for Sabarimala violence

In a series of tweets,  Vijayan said, "Sabarimala has a uniqueness that other temples lack; it allows entry for people of all faith. Sangh Parivar and RSS have always been intolerant of this fact. They have made many attempts to erase this distinction of Sabarimala."

"The role they played in eliminating the rituals performed at Sabarimala by Adivasi-Malayaran community is common knowledge. The present troubles must be seen in this light. The RSS backed attackers are obstructing believers and spreading terror," he said.

"These attackers are motivated by casteist and feudal ideologies. Encouraging such movements will eventually lead to the banishment of backward classes from places like Sabarimala. All believers must condemn this attack on Sabarimala."

"Sabarimala has a uniqueness that other temples lack; it allows entry for people of all faith. Sangh Parivar and RSS have always been intolerant of this fact. They have made many attempts to erase this distinction of Sabarimala," the Kerala CM tweeted.

The comments came on a day when several Hindu outfits called a hartal in Kerala to protest the decision to allow women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala temple. Buses and auto-rickshaws stayed off the road on Thursday.

The Supreme Court has recently, in a landmark judgement, allowed the the entry of women of menstrual age group into the Sabarimala temple. Women in the age group of 10 and 50 were traditionally kept away from the temple of Lord Ayappa. However, the judgement was met with vociferous protests from different religious organisations and individuals of the state.

As the gate of the temple was set to open on Wednesday  for the first time since the Supreme Court passed its judgement with the likelihood of women trying to enter,protesters, keeping a vigil against any such eventuality,  turned aggressive, intimidating and hounding after female devotees who tried to venture into the shrine, beating up women journalists and clashing with the police.

Antharashtriya Hindu Parishad led by Parvin Togadia called for a hartal demanding that the Pinarayi Vijayan government should bring a law to overturn the Supreme Court verdict. A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on September 28 had lifted the ban on women's entry into the Sabarimala temple declaring the relevant rules as unconstitutional.