Thiruvananthapuram: Union minister Alphons Kannanthanam on Monday flayed the Kerala Police for clamping prohibitory orders in Sabarimala and nearby areas.
"I fail to understand why the Kerala Police has clamped prohibitory orders. This is not the way things should be handled. Sabarimala pilgrims are not extremists. You cannot use force in this place,” said Kannanthanam who reached Nilakkal, base camp of Sabarimala, on Monday.
Kannanthanam also criticised the police action on devotees late Sunday night at Sannidhanam.
In an apparent dig at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Union minister said that such situations did not even have precedence even during the Stalin era.
Kannanthanam also said that he would inspect how the state has utilised the Rs 100 crore-releif fund from the Centre. "I will go around the temple town to make sure how the funds have been used."
The temple town has witnessed protests by Hindu groups after the Supreme Court allowed women of child-bearing age to enter the temple that hitherto banned girls and women aged between 10 and 50.
The apex court on November 13 refused to stay the September 28 verdict.
While the Kerala government is trying hard to implement the apex court verdict, the BJP/RSS, Sangh Parivar forces and the Congress-led UDF are up in arms against violation of the temple tradition.
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