Will
the battle to ensure entry to women of all age groups in Sabarimala turn out to
be CPM’s Waterloo?
Save Sabarimala campaign held by devotees of
Sabariamala temple in Kerala recently to protect customs of the temple has
thrown up many surprises. A well planned brutal effort of Government of Kerala
to implement the order of Supreme Court of India (SC) allowing entry to women
of all age groups in the temple failed disastrously in the first round. Though
the left Government wanted Kerala society to discuss the inequalities in
Hinduism and need for reformation, they ended up exposing their alleged discriminatory
acts against Hindu temples. Though Sabarimala issue was expected to weaken BJP
and RSS it did not happen. On the contrary, CPM has yielded new ground to Sangh
Parivar in Kerala to further their goals. Normally public discourse in Kerala is
controlled by leftists. But this time Hindutva forces took control of it.
Despite Kerala government’s effort to
implement the SC order, no real woman devotee turned up at the temple to pay
obeisance to Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity. If there is anybody with some
sense in the ruling communist party of India (Marxist) they should think whey
even their women cadres did not use the court given opportunity to visit
Sabarimala. Though some self-proclaimed women activists (mostly non Hindus)
tried to enter the temple under heavy police protection, they had to beat a
hasty retreat following peaceful protest by well determined devotees.
(Sabarimala allows entry to Ayyappa devotees irrespective of their religion
provided they perform the mandatory rituals prior to entry)
Moreover, the move of CPM led government resulted
in thousands of devotees, especially women coming out on the streets to protest
which baffled political parties, media and self-proclaimed social and political
pundits/advisors. CPM could not organize a single public meeting or march matching
the devotee protests supporting the government decision. Thus for the first
time in Kerala, Communist Party of India (Marxist) ie CPM who always boasted
about their strength as reformers and muscle power at the streets has been convincingly
defeated on the streets by those who argue for status quo.
The normally meek Hindus of Kerala who always
strive to be politically correct even at the cost of their beliefs and
traditions mustered up enough courage to say at the face of Communists that ‘we
will protect the customs of Sabarimala at all costs.’ This has left many
politicians nodding their heads in unbelief. The movement can be considered as
a watershed in the social and political history of Kerala because those who
upheld their beliefs in the public are likely to repeat in many other issues
and political parties will have to accommodate them.
Why Hindus revolted
Why Hindus of Kerala revolted against SC
order allowing women of all age groups temple entry? Has Kerala society
transformed to an obscurantist group?
The answer is, for courts and left
politicians the issue in Sabarimala is equality among men and women but for devotees
it is a totally different issue. They don’t consider Sabarimala temple as a
place where inequality is practiced and perpetuated. On the contrary,
Sabarimala temple is a place where people of all castes and religions enter and
worship God. Sabarimala is the place of complete equality, if there is any such
place in the world. Even before Marxism was born the idea of equality was practiced
in Sabarimala. Sabarimala is the only place of worship on the earth where each
devotee is addressed by the name of God.
Devotee becomes Lord Ayyappa
Every devotee who decides to go on pilgrimage
to Sabarimala is addressed as Ayyappa once he starts wearing the string of
tulsi beads and blue or black clothes which he removes only after returning
from the temple. It means he has become a part of God. It also signifies that
devotees of Ayyappa are equal irrespective of caste, creed or nationality and
are part of God itself. At the temple the Upanishadic verse Thatvamasi is
written meaning ‘Thou art That.’ Every devotee of Lord Ayyappa who enters Sabarimala
realizes that he/she is God and returns as an enlightened person. (at least
theoretically)
Projecting Sabarimala as a place of
inequality just because women between ages of 10 and 50 are denied entry is
viewed by devotees as a design of vested interest groups to malign the sanctity
of the greatest place of worship of Hindus of South India. Every institution
works on the basis of regulations. Will a district committee member of CPM be
able to participate in politbureau discussions? He cannot. There is age
restriction in India to become governor or president. Do they mean discrimination.
The answer is certainly not. Discrimination and regulation are different.
Moreover, CPM which fights for women’s rights has not appointed a woman CM in
Kerala ever. The party never had a woman state secretary or national general
secretary. When a party which does not practice what they preach tries to
forcefully implement ideas, it may not succeed.
Emotional and spiritual connect
Lord Ayyppa is to South Indians what Lord Ram
is to North Indians or Lord Krishna is to people of Western UP or Gujarat.
People from Telengana, Karnataka, Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala arrive at the
temple by lakhs and crores. Some walk the entire distance from their home to
Sabarimala shrine braving harsh weather and forests. Some estimates say
annually around 50 million pilgrims visit Sabarimala. The devotees of
Sabarimala include people from all walks of life. At present even people from
North India and foreign countries like Malaysia and Singapore come to
Sabarimala.
It seems the communists of Kerala have
miscalculated the influence of the temple and thought their rhetoric of reforms
and progressive ideas will help them to bulldoze the age old customs and give
some political mileage to a party which is dying everywhere else in India.
However Hindus of Kerala who have been repeatedly battered in the name of
Secularism and Reformation have already reached the breaking point and
Sabarimala issue turned out to be the straw that broke the backbone of the
camel. That is Hindus who have been fed up with the discrimination shown by
Kerala government at their centres of worship finally revolted.
Sabarimala is a wrong battle field for
communists
An intelligent general always choses a battle
field where he has some advantage. But by deciding to fight the power centres
of Hinduism at Sabarimala, Comrade Vijayan has chosen a wrong battle field
because that is the temple that unites all Hindus of Kerala. In fact, different
Hindu castes ranging from Adivasis, Scheduled Castes and OBC Ezhavas to upper
caste Nairs revere as their most sacred place. All Hindus from SCs to Nairs
used to go Sabarimala together and Sabarimala pilgrimage was a great leveling
ground for Hindus who lived in different strata. The level of protest happened
in Sabarimala issue would not have happened had Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan intervened
in any other temple including Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple because those
temples don’t have a history of uniting Hindus.
Aspect of reformation
The propaganda unleashed by the CPM that they
are trying to reform customs at Sabarimala is not finding many takers. A move
to reform outdated customs should have come from believers. Many outdated
customs that once existed in Kerala temples were reformed because of social
pressure and agitations from within Hindu society. In the issue of women entry
at Sabarimala, no such demand has been made by devotees from Hindu society. The
SC decision comes in a case filed by a group of lawyers who are non Keralites
and were led by a non-Hindu. So the questions are who wants reforms? Why groups
who are not devotees want reform at somebody else’s place of worship? Why
Government is not taking initiative to reform gender based inequalities
existing in Sunni Muslim mosques and Christian churches? In the age of
information revolution Communists don’t have the monopoly of information which
they once had in Kerala.
Failed effort to divide Hindus
Whenever Hindu unity happened in Kerala
political parties have succeeded in destroying it. This time Kerala CM Pinarayi
Vijayan tried to divide Hindus who took part in Save Sabarimala agitation by
raising upper caste vs lower caste theme. He even made SNDP leader Vellappally
support the divide. But this time Hindus of Kerala dismissed Pinarayi’s
arguments with contempt. Gone are the days when upper castes and lower caste Hindus
in Kerala went to war obeying the sermons of political crooks. Everyone knows
Brahmin supremacy is over. A few thousand Brahmins in Kerala are struggling for
survival. Now Hindus in Kerala know unity is essential for their survival. In
many Hindu temples in Kerala non Brahmin priests are doing poojas and upper
castes have accepted them wholeheartedly.
Pinarayi’s telling the lie of Brahmin supremacy sounds like a joke.
Kerala’s Hindu Youth are more united and are proud of their identity unlike
their parents and grandparents who allowed themselves to be misled by leftists.
Earlier, communist leaders like A K Gopalan
had led struggles to reform temple customs. But Pinarayi is no AKG. Present day
leaders of Kerala CPM lack the image of AKG as men of integrity and sincerity.
It is unlikely that even communists will accept Pinarayi’s claims to the throne
of AKG. Pinarayi’s all-out war against Sabarimala traditions may cost CPM dear
in Kerala, its last stronghold. Some traditions have to die. This time it seems
it will be the communist tradition of Kerala.
END
