BJP MLAs write to Kerala CM on Sabarimala

T’puram: BJP MLAs submitted a letter to chief minister V D Satheesan, demanding that the state govt withdraw every case filed against devotees in connection with the Sabarimala agitation. They also sought a CBI investigation into the Sabarimala gold heist case.

On Tuesday, MLA V Muraleedharan said Satheesan, who had demanded CBI inquiry into the Sabarimala gold heist as the leader of opposition, should take urgent steps to refer the case to the central agency without delay. In connection with the protest over women’s entry to Sabarimala temple, 2,624 cases have been registered in Kerala. Cases have been registered against 29,119 persons, he said.

“It is learnt that the govt is currently considering withdrawing 1,047 non-serious cases. The classification of cases against devotees who protested to safeguard Sabarimala customs into ‘serious’ and ‘non-serious’ was done by police officers to suit the previous govt’s interests. Such a split in protest-related cases is unscientific and hostile to the community of believers. If justice is to be delivered to devotees, the govt must be ready to withdraw all cases linked to this issue unconditionally. Otherwise, the public will realize that every promise Congress has made to the people of Kerala over the past eight years was false,” said the letter submitted to the CM by BJP MLAs Muraledharan, Rajeev Chandrasekhar and B B Gopakumar.

The letter stated that it was ordinary Lord Ayyappa devotees in Kerala who took to the streets chanting sacred invocations. Instead of acknowledging their burning anguish and faith, the administration rewarded them with thousands of fabricated cases. Today, because of these cases, thousands of young people and members of ordinary families are forced to run from court to court. Those named as accused have no criminal background of any kind, they said.