RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said that sentiments of women were not respected by the Supreme Court while allowing women of menstrual age to enter the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala.
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said that sentiments of women were not respected by the Supreme Court while allowing women of menstrual age to enter the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala.
"The decisions taken without considering all aspects and patiently creating the mindset of the society, will neither be adopted in actual practice nor will they help in creating a new social order in tune with changing times and positions. The situation arising out of the recent verdict on Sabarimala temple shows the similar predicament," the RSS chief said in his Vijayadashami address on Thursday.
The Vijaya Dashami programme and the RSS chief's speech are among the most important events in the organisation's annual calendar. It was on Vijayadashmi in 1925 that Keshav Baliram Hedgewar had set up the RSS.
This year, the RSS had invited Nobel Prize winner and social activist Kailash Satyarthi as chief guest.
"The nature and premise of the tradition that has been accepted by society and continuously followed for years together were not taken into consideration. The version of heads of religious denominations and faith of crores of devotees was not taken into account. The plea by a large section of women, who follows this tradition, was not heard to," Bhagwat said in his speech at the Reshimbagh Ground in Nagpur.
The doors of Sabarimala temple in Kerala opened on Wednesday for the first time since the Supreme Court lifted the centuries-old ban on entry of women of menstrual age.
Bhagwat said the verdict by the Supreme Court has given rise to unrest, turmoil and divisiveness in the society in place of peace, stability and equality.
"The questions such as why only the Hindu society experiences such repeated and brazen onslaughts on its symbols of faith, obviously rise in the public mind and lead to unrest. This situation is not at all conducive for the peace and healthiness of the society," he said.
Bhagwat's remarks came as the doors of Sabarimala temple were opened amid violent protests on Wednesday. Women journalists were heckled, their vehicles smashed and young female Ayyappa devotees turned back as hordes of activists of Hindu fringe groups besieged the road leading to the temple, abode to Lord Ayyappa, its eternally celibate deity, officials said.
Chaos and mayhem on the road leading from Nilackal, the gateway to the shrine, 20 km away, to Pamba in the foothills from where the devotees start the arduous 6-km trek to Sabarimala reigned supreme, as activists of fought pitched battles with police, leaving many injured and bleeding.
The Pathanamthitta district authorities promulgated prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC banning assembly of four or more people in strife-torn Pamba and Nilackal following the violence and a strike called by right wing outfits tomorrow.
Incensed over Kerala's Left Front government's decision not to file a review plea against the Supreme Court verdict, protesters pelted police with stones and the latter hit right back with vengeance wielding batons with telling effect, leaving many fallen and writhing in pain on the road.
(With PTI inputs)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Mohan Bhagwat speaking at RSS vijayadashami event in Nagpur")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}