Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has hit back at BJP president Amit Shah over his criticism of the CPM-led government on the Sabarimala row.
Vijayan said Shah’s statements were an attack on the Supreme Court and the Indian Constitution. “The BJP president’s assertion that courts must only pronounce verdicts which could be carried out conveys the message that fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution are not meant to be implemented. These statements of Shah also reveal the true colour of the RSS and the Sangh Parivar,” Vijayan said on Saturday.
He said Shah’s argument that gender equality must not be implemented through temple entry laws was a precursor to the argument that caste-based discrimination must not be abolished by law.
Shah’s “ramblings” revealed the Sangh’s indebtedness to the obsolete views of gender inequality propounded by Manusmriti, Vijayan said and urged the civil society to rise against “uncivilised” ideologies.
The state government has continued arrests in connection with protests against the entry of women of menstruating age to the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple. The BJP alleges that devotees are being targeted as part of the crackdown.
“Amit Shah, who threatened to oust the LDF government, must remember that this government did not come to power at the mercy of the BJP but with the support of the people of this state. It must also be noted that the BJP leader dared to threaten a democratically elected government because it stood by the Supreme Court verdict and its commitment to protect fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution,” Vijayan said.