RSS urges Ayyappa devotees to save traditions of Kerala's Sabarimala temple

GWALIOR: Urging the Ayyappa devotees to continue their struggle in order to save the traditions of Kerala's Sabarimala temple, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday said people from all over the country must come together to protect the traditions and beliefs of the Hindus.

A resolution was adopted by the RSS at a three-day meet of its highest policy-making body the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. 

In the resolution it is said that "vested interests" had come up with a "systematic design", which is not based on Bhartiya perspective with an aim to damage Hindu beliefs and traditions, IANS reported.

"The Sabarimala temple case is a recent example of this design. Hindutva is not a monolithic thought but a view of life manifested in diverse and varied ways of cultural expressions, characterised by uniqueness in modes of worship, local traditions and festivities. It is anomalous to impose monotonous homogenisation on the beauty of diversity in our traditions," the resolution said.

The ABPS urged the devotees to maintain restraint and peace during their struggle to protect the traditions of Sabarimala temple.

"The Pratinidhi Sabha urges the Kerala government to honour the beliefs, sentiments and democratic rights of the devotees and not perpetrate violence upon its own people. The Pratinidhi Sabha hopes that the Court will comprehensively consider all these concerns in the review and other petitions," the resolution said.

Launching a direct attack on Kerala`s Left Front government, the ABPS said that the state government was deliberately hurting the sentiments of Hindus under the pretext of implementing the Supreme Court verdict. It may be recalled that a few months ago, the apex court had passed a historic judgement allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple.

"It is unfortunate that the Supreme Court while reaching the decision did not take into consideration the nature and premise of the tradition that has been accepted and continuously followed by people for many years.  The version of heads of religious traditions was not taken into account and the sentiments of women devotees were also not heeded," the resolution noted.

The RSS also accused the Kerala government of playing with the sentiments of Ayyappa devotees by making efforts to sneak in atheist and ultra-Left women activists inside the temple.

"This is being done to further the Communist Party of India-Marxist`s (CPI-M) petty political gains and opens another ideological battle against the Hindus," the resolution read.

(with IANS inputs)`