Open Forum
New
Delhi, 12 October 2018
Temple Entry
SECULARISATION Vs BIOGTRY?
By Dr S Saraswathi
(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)
Right of entry to Sabarimalai Ayyappa Temple
in Kerala to women of all age-groups allowed by the Supreme Court order in a litigation
is now hitting headlines like crucial election results. It is a head on
collision between rights groups and uncompromising traditionalists. The Court
has also rejected urgent hearing of the review pleas and declined to issue stay
order on the judgment.
The annual season for worship at the temple
starting shortly, there is urgency to take stern measures to prevent
disturbances to peace and order in the holy shrine if not to find a
permanent solution to the conflict
between religious and secular forces -- the sacred and the profane of Durkheim.
A rare agreement is seen in the stand of the
BJP and Congress asking the Government of Kerala to file a review petition. But,
the Left Front government in the State and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB)
in charge of the management of temples in the State do not want a review.
For those seeking review, it is a question of
protecting traditions and beliefs associated with this temple, and for others,
a question of gender equality and equal rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
The verdict was given by 4:1 majority of a 5-member Constitution Bench. The
minority view was interestingly that of a woman judge.
The Government of Kerala is not likely to
hold talks with the BJP or the Congress, but sought a meeting with the Tantri
(chief priest) and Pandalam royal family that is safeguarding the rituals,
customs, and beliefs at the shrine to discuss and to clarify its stand on court
verdict. This is clearly an administrative strategy to counter eruption of
violent protests by orthodox sections of people who find support from some
political parties.
Neither family may see any purpose in meeting
government officials. Meanwhile, the Nair Service Society, the National Ayyappa
Devotees Association, and the Chetna Conscience of Women have separately filed a
petition for revision of the judgement. They have questioned the right of a
third party which does not comprise devotees of Ayyappa to file the PIL in the
first place and intervene in the worship of the deity.
The dispute is a typical clash between the
process of secularisation of places of worship which is part of the democratic
process and the stranglehold of customary restrictions and bigotry reigning
supreme especially with the rituals connected with Sabarimalai. The constitutional
right to equality conflicts with another constitutional right of religious institutions.
One can notice some extraordinary discipline
associated with the worship of Ayyappa
at Sabarimalai believed to be a “Naishtika
Brahmachari”, meaning one who is
always a celibate and remains with his “guru”. That deity requires to be away
from any contact -- even visual -- with any woman in the menstruating age between
10 and 50 years. The dissenting judge
pointed out that exclusion of women in this age-group is not out of the concept
of social exclusion, but because of the unique character of the deity. It is
unlike the exclusion of some castes, which resulted from the practice of social
exclusion and inadmissible.
The dissenting verdict has brought forward the
right of the deity to be worshipped in the form He is manifested. Religion,
temple, worship, and devotees have become parties in this dispute heard by a
secular institution which is guardian of the Constitution. The issue sharply
dividing people with no scope for a middle or neutral position, the role of
politics and electoral calculations cannot be absent.
Thousands of devout Hindus, mostly women,
upset over the court’s direction on temple worship are protesting on the
streets. Several local NGOs are organising protests. The issue is not confined
to Kerala as the temple is visited by devotees from all parts of India in
groups. The Sabarimalai Protection Council (SPC) has launched a sit-in protest to
block entry of women on the hill.
Such is the hold of tradition and patriarchal
ideas and fear of consequences of violating age-old customs in the mode of
worship that restricted admission has found supporters from cross sections of
people who do not feel any sense of degradation in the practice of exclusion. Secularism finds a big road block in this direct
confrontation with bigotry that is reigning supreme.
Justice Chandrachud said that the ban on
women’s entry into the temple was a smear on their dignity and the consequence
of a hegemonic patriarchy. Superstitious beliefs which are extraneous and
unnecessary accretions to religion cannot be considered essential parts of religion
to be given constitutional protection, according to the judges. The minority
judgment held that the court could not impose its morality or rationality on
the form of worship of the deity. Such restrictions would nullify the freedom
to practise one’s religion according to one’s faith and beliefs.
The CPM-led Government of Kerala seems to be
unusually fast in taking steps to implement the court order and to make
arrangements for female pilgrims to this temple situated in the Periyar Tiger
Reserve in the Western Ghats amidst 18 hills on top of a hill in a forest area.
The location cannot be cited as the cause for bar on women’s entry, but
relevant for making arrangements for sudden explosion in the number of devotees
to the temple.
Caught between commitment to equal rights and
commitment to protect traditional life, the neutral observers cannot but watch
the ramifications of the crucial step of secularising worship at Sabarimalai. Several
temples in various States have now to get ready for rights-based changes in the
modes of worship. Already, the CPM has asked for opening mosques for women in
all places where they are prohibited.
The AICC was initially in favour of court
verdict, but the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee supports the existing ban. The
DK, DMK, and the Left parties have welcomed the judgement. The
verdict may open a bigger movement against gender discriminations in the name
of customs and traditions or lead to a conservative uprising to protect
cultural discipline.
No doubt, changes in religious beliefs and
practices are going on silently. Even devotees visiting Sabarimalai have
relaxed many of the old time rules to suit their convenience. The job of
priests in temples in Tamil Nadu is open to people of all castes. Entry into
the sanctum sanctorum is prohibited for all except the priests to avoid
exclusive entry of Brahmin devotees as a right.
The impact of secularisation on religion is
tremendous. At the societal level, secularisation refers to a general decline
in religious authority over other social institutions. Religion becomes one
institution among many in the society.
Sociologists are of the view that women in
general are more active than men in religion and their beliefs are stronger. Religious
practices all over the world accord to women a status inferior to that of men,
but still women’s commitment to religious practices is strong. Women are indeed
so active in protecting religious beliefs that women devotees are on the
streets protesting against the court verdict – a scene perplexing in the age of
feminist movements for rights. The movement has to go a long way to awaken
women.----INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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