This Article is From Nov 22, 2018

Sabarimala Highlights: RSS Behaving Like Taliban, Says CPI(M) Member

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Tuesday accused the Kerala government of treating pilgrims as 'Gulag inmates'.

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Heavy security at the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala. (File)

New Delhi:

Inflow of pilgrims at the Sabarimala Temple is yet to pick up six days after the hill shrine was opened on November 16 evening for the over two-month-long pilgrimage season amid heavy security and protests.

Tuesday witnessed moderate crowd of pilgrims, even as eight people were taken into preventive custody from the temple complex and opposition congress-led UDF leaders booked for violating prohibitory orders at the base camps.

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Tuesday accused the Kerala government of treating pilgrims as 'Gulag inmates', prompting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to allege the Sangh Parivar was making the pilgrims 'scapegoats'. Mr Shah slammed the CPI(M)-led government's handling of the situation as "disappointing" and accused it of making them spend nights next to "pig droppings".

Here are the Highlights from Sabarimala:

Nov 21, 2018 14:48 (IST)
Kerala's Minister of Finance Thomas Isaac says BJP leaders got angry at police harassment to devotees.

Nov 21, 2018 14:47 (IST)
After reviewing facilities, Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan asks IPS officer Yatish Chandra why only KSRTC vehicles are being allowed till Pamba. He demands that private vehicles should also be allowed.

"You (police) are unnecessarily harassing devotees. Why only KSRTC vehicles are being allowed till Pamba? This is not good for Sabarimala pilgrims. Private vehicles should also be allowed," the minister says.

Mr Chandra, however, said parking lots in Pamba had been washed away in the August floods. He said the KSRTC buses would not park at Pamba and would be returning with pilgrims. "But if private vehicles were allowed, they would create traffic blocks causing difficulties to pilgrims."

Nov 21, 2018 14:28 (IST)
Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, on his way to the Sabarimala Temple, engaged in a brief war of words with the police in Nilackal over restrictions on private vehicles heading to Pamba, the last entry point to the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

Though IPS officer Yatish Chandra said the minister could travel in his official vehicle, Mr Radhakrishnan preferred to proceed to Pamba from here in a state-run KSRTC bus as a mark of protest against the restrictions imposed by state authorities causing difficulties to pilgrims.
Nov 21, 2018 14:28 (IST)
Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, on his way to the Sabarimala Temple, engaged in a brief war of words with the police in Nilackal over restrictions on private vehicles heading to Pamba, the last entry point to the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

Though IPS officer Yatish Chandra said the minister could travel in his official vehicle, Mr Radhakrishnan preferred to proceed to Pamba from here in a state-run KSRTC bus as a mark of protest against the restrictions imposed by state authorities causing difficulties to pilgrims.
Nov 21, 2018 13:25 (IST)
BJP leader K Surendran who was taken into custody last week at Nilakkal for moving towards Sabarimala Temple, has been granted bail by Thiruvalla Court in Kerala, reports news agency ANI.
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Nov 21, 2018 13:02 (IST)
Kerala High Court seeks an explanation from the state government on imposing section144 around Sabarimala Temple, according to news agency ANI. The court directed the state to explain in detail how is section 144 being implemented in the area.
Nov 21, 2018 12:49 (IST)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shobha Karandlaje asks Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to visit Sabarimala and see the "sufferings" of the devotees.

Nov 21, 2018 11:54 (IST)
According to news agency ANI, Union Minister Giriraj Singh says the communist party of Kerala is known to everyone for their "negative ideology and beliefs."

His comments come after CPI(M) politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai likened the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with Taliban and Khalistan terrorists. 

"The Kerela communist party is playing the role of Kim Jong-un. They need to take another birth in order to understand the actual ideology of RSS," Mr Singh says.
Nov 21, 2018 10:45 (IST)
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is behaving like Taliban and Khalistan terrorists, says CPI(M) politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai.

"They (RSS) are behaving like Taliban and Khalistan terrorists. Why are they trying to create trouble in Sabarimala? They should allow everything to be peaceful, they're not doing it," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday had said the ruling BJP's ideological mentor RSS was vitiating the atmosphere at Sabarimala temple and "sponsoring protests against the entry of women."
Nov 21, 2018 09:52 (IST)
Union Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan is expected to visit Sabarimala today.

Nov 21, 2018 09:42 (IST)
Kerala's Minister of Finance Thomas Isaac says the Congress and its allies played out a political farce, referring to their protest march to Nilakkal on Tuesday.


Opposition Congress-led UDF workers staged a protest on Tuesday demanding withdrawal of prohibitory orders in force in and around Sabarimala as police briefly stopped them from accompanying a delegation of their leaders to the Lord Ayyappa shrine to inspect facilities for devotees.

Police initially said they cannot be allowed to visit the Lord Ayyappa temple in such large numbers in view of the prohibitory orders, but later permitted them. The UDF leaders and party workers later proceeded to Pamba in a KSRTC bus en route to Sabarimala.



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