Sabarimala row: Retired police officers mull legal fight against Kerala govt

Pathanamthitta: A group of retired police officials led by former Kerala Police chief TP Senkumar is planning to take the legal route in order to preserve the ethics of Lord Ayyappa.

Retired police officials convened a meet at Pandalam Valiya Koyikkal Temple on January 14. While inaugurating the prayer function in Pathanamthitta by the retired police officials, former director general of police (DGP) Senkumar criticised the state government.

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He said if the state government had minimum decency, they would have been ready to continue the earlier customs at Sabarimala till January 22.

The move of the retired police officials is to question the illegal activities carried out by the police in the Sabarimala temple. They will question permitting non-devotees, activists, naxals and accused in various criminal cases to enter Sabarimala.

Senkumar also said that the biased behaviour of the police towards Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan and Hindu organisation leader KP Sasikala will also be questioned. The group decided to go forward with legal steps after the district-level meeting was convened.

The legal fight is led by former police chiefs Senkumar and EP Chandrashekaran Nair. A group of retired police officials are being formed in all districts for it.

The group assessed that non-devotees are at the helm of the Devaswom board. The effort taken to trek non-devotees to Sabarimala was aimed to destroy Sabarimala.

He criticised some IPS officers and police union leaders for their act seen in Sabarimala. An Inspector General of Police (IGP) used this as an opportunity to express obedience to the government, the group said.

Earlier, Senkumar slammed chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's initiative - the ‘women's wall’. Senkumar told the media that instead of building the ‘women's wall’, Vijayan government should build homes for the needy.

After the August floods in Kerala, hundreds of lives were lost in the state. Thousands of homes were totally destroyed and many more were partially damaged.

At least 488 people died in Kerala due to the rains and floods this monsoon, which hit 14 districts of the state.

Senkumar had also slammed the allegations that he was selected to be the next governor of Kerala. He also said that he met BJP national president Amit Shah to request him to make laws so that all temples including Sabarimala as well as the Devaswom Boards are in the hands of the believers.

Senkumar said non-believers governing a temple of believers is not the right practice. As per the seventh section of the Indian Constitution, the Centre has the right to protect temples, he said.

"I have handed over the details of that legal aspect to Amit Shah. Other than that, nothing else was discussed,” he clarified.

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