Legal Matters | Sabarimala temple entry is now a larger issue

Representative Image

It is as democratic as it can get. In a split verdict, the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has voted 3:2 in favour of referring the many review petitions challenging its own verdict of September 28, 2018, to a larger 7-judge bench. Justice Rohinton Nariman and Justice DY Chandrachud held on to their year-old viewpoints, becoming the dissenting voices.

In essence, entry of women to places of worship, per se, will now be addressed from a broader perspective and will not be seen from the prism of customs surrounding one temple. However, there will be no stay on its own order last year allowing women of menstrual age entering the hillock temple.

It was Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi who led the charge for a larger bench referral, while Justice Indu Malhotra, the only voice of dissent last time around, held ground. Justice AM Khanwilkar was the one who turned the judgment as he went against his own position last time, when erstwhile CJI Dipak Misra led a 4:1 verdict allowing entry of women aged 10-50 into the Sabarimala sannidhanam (sanctum).

Close on the heels of the Ayodhya verdict, what was widely expected was a closure on the vexed Sabarimala temple entry issue, perhaps with the rights of Lord Ayyappa being protected along the lines of Ram Lalla in the Ayodhya case. That was not to be, as the apex court held that the right of Muslim women to enter mosques and Parsi women to enter fire temple were connected to the Sabarimala entry of women and hence should be heard by a larger court.

Justice Gogoi began with the observation that matters of religion require one to tread cautiously, setting the tone for what was to follow: “What is perceived as faith by one group may not be perceived so by another group.” The Constitution Bench also observed there was another seminal issue — if the constitutional court could interfere in such integral aspects of the religion.

It will be the incumbent-CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde who will get to steer the 7-bench hearing. It is expected the case will now take a while to reach its culmination.

However, the trouble is far from over for the Kerala government, as it will once again be hard-pressed to protect any young woman who wishes the temple when the pilgrim season begins in a couple of days’ time. The entire state and thousands of pilgrims, mostly from other states, may once again have to undergo the rigours of yet another stand-off: Between the State trying to facilitate and protect women who want to go to Sabarimala and those opposed to it, for religious, social and political reasons.

It surely won’t be easy for the people of Kerala if the high octane drama of yore were to get re-enacted right through the Mandala Puja period till December 27. No one is going to breathe easy up to Makaravilakku on January 15. It is not as if thousands, nay even hundreds, of young women got into the line last season to visit the temple. Only two young women managed to mark their official entry, though the unofficial number was put around 10-12.

The Travancore Devaswom Board had taken a Rs 98.66 crore revenue dip on account of devotee inflow that stood pared by almost 50 per cent. The overall loss to the state exchequer on account of reduced footprints, no doubt also on account of the flood, would run close to Rs 1,000 crore. The negative impact of the Sabarimala meltdown was perhaps better represented in the tourism industry figures.

What played out last year was a mind game, involving not just two sections of the Hindu community divided over the fight between the sanctity of beliefs and gender equality. It had spiralled into a pitched battle between pretenders on both sides as the numbers of those masquerading under the opposing banners now far outweigh the genuine devotees and liberals seeking gender equality.

Renaissance Kerala, as a concept is par excellence, especially from the political viewpoint. However, it is now established that thousands of young women are not making a beeline to Lord Ayyappa’s abode. With no navodhanam (renaissance), along the lines of temple entry movements by the backward classes as witnessed in the last century in sight, there may not be too many takers for a repeat of last year. Hopefully.

Vinod Mathew is a senior journalist based in Kochi. Views are personal.