By Aditya Aamir
Will it take a Caravan – such as the one closing in on the United States border with Mexico – of Ayyappa devotees to convince Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that there’s more to the Sabarimala issue than just gender-justice? For, it appears the governance-style of ‘benign rulers for life’ seems to have rubbed off on Pinarayi during his foreign visit to garner support and funds to build a ‘Nava Kerala’, with justice for all, most of all women of all ages.
Pinarayi Vijayan returned home wearing disgust and disquiet seeing what had happened in God’s Own Country in his absence. Five days and not a single woman of 10-50 age could enter Sabarimala. It was not the failure to implement the SC verdict that got his goat. Kerala is notorious for dumping apex court rulings in the Arabian Sea. It was the fact that Pinarayi’s edict – verdict be implemented ASAP – stood defeated which angered him.
The legend and the brag in Kerala is that Pinarayi Vijayan is a man with “Two Hearts”, meaning he has double the political boldness of the average Malayali politician and never could be made to back off. But, here he was, rendered ineffective and looking pathetic by a horde of wayward rabble-rousers, led by a “tantri-upstart” and a political party he hated from the depths of his guts, every communist hated.
The failure has disgruntled him. And the authoritarian streak in him struck with a vengeance. He identified his enemies and hit below the belt, levelled allegations dressed in “caste” and double entendre against them. The “tantri-upstart” took the “insult” to court on Thursday. Pinarayi also branded Ayyappa devotees as militants without a cause. He vowed to defeat them on their own turf: Sabarimala.
How? October 24, news broke that 5000 police will swarm the Sabarimala shrine next time it opens, which is a month from now. If need be, police from other states will be brought in. Media presence in Sabarimala will be regulated. Ayyappa devotees will not be permitted to remain in the temple compound for more than 24 hours. Hotels and lodges in towns in the vicinity of Sabarimala will not rent rooms to guests/devotees for more than a day.
In effect, Police Raj with Pinarayi Rules!
Pinarayi Vijayan is grumpy-mad. More so, because Rival No.1 Congress refuses to see through the “BJP farce”. But why should the Congress? The Congress base is different from that of the LDF. Congress leadership has embraced a brand of ‘soft Hindutva’ that is different from BJP’s hardline Hindutva. The BJP in Kerala can paint itself into a radical/violent communal corner, but the Congress has to think of Muslim, Christian and Hindu alike.
So, the Congress is ‘there’ behind the “genuine devotees.” If the BJP’s plan is to consolidate the Hindu votes by raising Hindu fervour, the Congress pact is with being ‘Ready to Wait’, expecting a windfall of Hindu votes when the dust settles over Sabarimala, confident that the average Malayali Hindu is no sucker for BJP’s “communal” politics.
That is why Pinarayi is foaming at the mouth and is afflicted with a serious case of ‘vinashakale vipreetha buddhi’. Within hours of his return from UAE, the “autonomous” Travancore Devasvom Board reneged on its third promise to go for a review of the SC decision. Simultaneously, Pinarayi questioned the interference of “tantris” and the “erstwhile rajas” in matters Sabarimala. He will chair a meeting of devaswom boards of all the “southern states” on October 31. Atheist Pinarayi Vijayan is going all out missionary!
And if push comes to shove, the Travancore Devaswom Board will “take over Sabarimala”, Pinarayi more or less challenged the Ayyappa devotees. With that who owns Ayyappan’s abode and who rules Ayyappan’s heart have overtaken talk of women’s rights and gender-justice. The Chief Minister seems hardly worried about the review petitions to be heard on November 13. It’s as if the date doesn’t exist in his calendar and even if it does, ‘No.13’ is not unlucky for him.
What is Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s game-plan? Why is he behaving the way he’s behaving? Why is he in a tearing hurry to implement this particular Supreme Court verdict while there were others he sent back for review and yet others he rendered ineffective with ordinance? The fact that not a single CPM politician’s wife or daughter in the 10-50 age group has stepped up to trek to Sabarimala is Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s ultimate moment of truth, and defeat. Yet, he doesn’t see it.
Like the Thiruvananthapuram wag said, “You can chain a Mast elephant, but what do you do if the chain gets Mast?” Maybe, a caravan of Mast Ayyappa devotees will make a difference; for, today the word in Kerala is Lord Ayyappa has defeated Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and ‘Vijayan’ translates to ‘Victor’! (IPA Service)
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