New Delhi:
The Supreme Court's directives to restrict tourists in the core areas of tiger sanctuaries have hit a religion wall. The government of Kerala and devotees of Sabarimala shrine have opposed any move to regulate or control the movement of pilgrims to the shrine, which is situated inside the Periyar tiger sanctuary.
Both the devotees and the state government want Sabarimala to be exempted from the court's directive.
The devotees association today told the court about four crore devotees from all over India visit the shrine every year and any regulation on the pilgrimage will cause hardship to the devotees. The association also said that the proposed tiger tourism guidelines to levy 10 per cent of income of temples for forest and local development is highly objectionable and it is like Jaziya (religion tax) imposed by Mughal emperor Aurangazeb.
The Supreme Court has said that states can enact tourism policies according to their needs without disrupting the broad guidelines. In the last hearing, the court had adjourned the case to October 9.
The Madhya Pradesh government also wanted Panchmari town also be exempted from the guidelines, which is located in the buffer area of Satpura sanctuary and has a temple.
The state has said that court guidelines are restricting vehicular movement and will affect people come to Panchmari to see the natural beauty and for pilgrimage.