Faith and freedom

Faith and freedom

Sabarimala belongs to the devotee. It mustn’t become a space for contestation
By supporting the entry of all believers to Sabarimala irrespective of age and sex, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has taken a stance consistent with the constitutional right to equality and freedom to worship without discrimination. The Board’s changed stance is reflective of the Supreme Court judgment of September 2018. The court had ruled 4-1 against the ban and custom preventing girls and women between 10 and 50 from entering Sabarimala. But implementing the judgment has tested the state government’s resolve.

It ran into strong protests from devotees, who believe the verdict endangers Lord Ayyappa’s naisthik brahmacharya, to caste outfits like Nair Service Society, Sangh Parivar groups, and political organisations like BJP and Congress. Nevertheless, two women, Bindu and Kanakadurga, did make it through under heavy police protection, though many others had to turn back in the face of violent protests. A new controversy has erupted with dissenting Board president A Padmakumar claiming he wasn’t consulted on the TDB’s change of position.

In deciding the 56 review petitions, it remains to be seen if Supreme Court will factor in the protests, the difficulties faced by women in entering Sabarimala, and the socioeconomic turmoil that it has created in Kerala with numerous hartal calls disrupting public life. The strong dissent authored by Justice Indu Malhotra, who opined that the equality doctrine enshrined under Constitution’s Article 14 does not override religious freedoms consonant with the tenets of a religion, will also weigh heavily on the five-judge bench.

It is noteworthy that women were allowed entry to Sabarimala for the rice-feeding ceremony of their children until a 1991 judgment of the Kerala high court acting on a PIL enforced a complete ban on women entry. The Board even charged a fee for the ceremony and would issue a receipt too. One of the ironies of secular India is that the state and its wings like the executive, judiciary and legislature have repeatedly got embroiled in religious matters. The task of social reform is a slow and painful process. Moreover political parties often get into the act, with an eye on political mileage and with no regard for the disruptions in public life and livelihoods that they cause. Hopefully, with time the Sabarimala dispute will settle down and everyone will respect the court verdict even as women of all ages are allowed entry to the temple.