New Delhi: Continuing the war of words on social media, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Amit Shah’s tweet on the ongoing Sabarimala protests is “unfounded and misleading.”
Earlier today, Shah had tweeted, “If Pinarayi Vijayan thinks he can rise against people’s movement to preserve Sabarimala by arresting K Surendran, our Thrissur District President and 6 others, then he is mistaken. We stand firmly with every Ayyappa devotee, who holds the Sabarimala tradition close to his heart.”
Vijayan then took to Facebook to express his displeasure over Shah’s tweet.
“Amit shah’s tweet on Sabarimala is unfounded and misleading. Pilgrimage is on in a very smoothway. Pilgrims too have expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made there. Arrangements must have caused inconvenience to the Sangh parivar elements who are bent on fomenting trouble with ulterior motives. Mr Shah must have been carried away by the campaign unleashed by these elements,” Vijayan wrote on Facebook.
He also said that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said that there is no other option but to abide by the orders of the Supreme Court and claimed that this itself is a reply to the allegations levelled by the BJP Chief by his tweet.
“Rajnath Singh, the union home minister has gone on record that the government do not have any option but to execute the order of the apex court. This itself is a reply to the allegation levelled by Amit Shah. The Human Rights Commission too has made it clear that there has been no serious problem with regard to the pilgrimage this year,” Vijayan said.
A three-member team of the Kerala Human Rights Commission (KHRC) reached Pamba in Sabarimala today to look into the allegations of gross human rights violations at Sabarimala Sannidhanam, Nilackal, and Pamba.
The KHRC had recently directed the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and other local authorities to ensure that basic facilities were provided to Lord Ayyappa devotees in and around the temple complex.
The pilgrims take a dip in the rivulet before ascending to the Sabarimala hilltop for the ‘darshan’ of Lord Ayyappa. Many people find this water body polluted with even faeces being discharged into it. The state’s human rights commission, after receiving complaints about the deplorable conditions, took a strong view of the situation around the shrine, which is thronged by millions of devotees.
Meanwhile, the political storm around the Sabarimala Temple row is not dissipating. Some followers of Lord Ayyappa- the deity of the temple- are angry with the recent Supreme Court decision of allowing women of all ages to enter the temple.
Violent clashes between the followers and police erupted last month after the doors of the temple were reopened. No woman was allowed by the agitating devotees to enter the shrine despite heavy police deployment.
On Monday, 69 people were arrested after they allegedly violated Section 144 (unlawful assembly) imposed in the vicinity of Temple.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]