Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s Left Democratic Front government hasn’t yet settled the contentious issue of permitting girls and women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple as directed by India’s Supreme Court.
And it has another political hot potato on its hands. The Communist Party of India Marxist-led LDF government is now grappling with the verdict from the apex court giving ownership of a church building in Piravom to one of the two squabbling factions of the Malankara Syrian Church in the state.
At Sabarimala the court verdict is to permit girls and women in the fertile age also to pray at the temple, which flies in the face of the all-male tradition of the temple.
In the church case, the apex court ruled that the ownership of the St Mary’s Church at Piravom in Ernakulam district, which is currently controlled by the Jacobite Church, belongs to the rival Orthodox Church.
In both cases, the state government has not been able to implement the court order.
In fact, the apex court order in the church case came as far back as July 3, 2017, and 17 months down the line the state government has not been able to implement the order and give control of the church to the Orthodox faction.
This Monday, the Orthodox faction made an attempt to forcibly take control of the church, and the district administration attempted to implement the long-standing court order with assistance from the police.
Several Jacobite supporters threatened to set themselves on fire, a few climbed to the top floors of the church building and threatened to jump down, and police clashed with other faithful in front of the church, even as the Orthodox faction sought to wrest control of the church.
However, all efforts of the district and revenue officials came to nought and the teams had to beat a retreat.
The stalemate in the church case has triggered more criticism from Hindu organisations against the state government. They say that the Marxist government has been keen to implement the court order at Sabarimala while going soft on the implementation of the court order in the Piravom church case.
The temple and church cases are a political minefield for the LDF government, and political observers feel they may be hurting the image of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who is projected as a leader with determination.
As it has turned out, his steely determination notwithstanding, no woman in the fertile age has yet been able to pray at the Sabarimala temple, and the church at Piravom which has been deemed by the court to belong to the Orthodox Church continues to be held by the Jacobite faction.
