Kochi: The Hindu right wing outfits have kicked up a storm by claiming that a woman below 50 years of age entered the Sabarimala temple along with Health Minister K.K. Shylaja the other day and held the Travancore Devaswom Board responsible for "breaking the present system followed at the holy shrine". When contacted, TDB president A. Padmakumar said the board will "look into the charges" though a preliminary inquiry showed her age just above 50 years.
"She is a health department official who accompanied the health minister. We'll conduct a detailed probe into the charges and give a clarification in two days," the new TDB president said. Earlier, the Hindu Aikya Vedi charged that the incident is a "violation" of the existing practice of banning entry for women in the age group of 10 to 50 years to Sabarimala. "It's a clear violation of the existing law. It's true that the government favours entry of women of all age groups but a court rule on the matter is yet to come. The government should abide by the existing law though the individual political parties will have different stands," said Bhargavaram, secretary.
"The onus is on TDB to clear the air. The usual practice is that they would stop such woman who appears to be below 50 years at Pamba and allow to proceed only upon showing a documental proof," said K. P. Sasikala, state president of the right wing outfit. Women aged 10-50 aren't allowed inside Sabarimala as the deity is 'celibate'. The Supreme Court has referred the case on women's entry in Sabarimala to a constitutional bench, which will decide if the current ban violates the fundamental rights.
