A report published on the front page of the Malayalam Manorama newspaper on Friday, claimed that the Travancore Devaswom Board has changed its stated stance on the Sabarimala temple women’s entry issue. The TDB had maintained that it is against women’s entry into Sabarimala temple.
This led to immediate tweets from activists like Rahul Easwar, who posted that the Devaswom Board, controlled, according to him, by Communists, was to argue against “Swamy Ayyappa” [sic] in the Supreme Court, and announced that it was time for “liberation of temples from atheists.”
SHOCKING NEWS -- Sabarimala Devasom (TDB controlled by communists) to argue against Swamy Ayyappa in Supreme Court
— Rahul Easwar (@RahulEaswar) November 9, 2018
Travancore Devasom Board takes money from Sabarimala Ayyappa and argues against him
Fate of Hindus in Kerala
It is time for Liberation of Temples from Atheists pic.twitter.com/THkgaZoM3g
However, the Devasom Board has called the story entirely false.
Speaking to TNM, Adv. Padmakumar, President of the Travancore Devaswom Board said, “Ask Malayalam Manorama about that. I don’t know anything about that. They are the ones who said it. I cannot respond to the news published in each newspaper. We do not know about this. This is not a development that we are aware of.”
This heated response from the TDB President indicates that the TDB has not, in fact, changed its stance on the Supreme Court’s verdict allowing women of all to enter the temple.
The Devaswom Ministry, an entity under the Kerala government headed by Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, maintains that for its own part, the Devaswom Ministry remains in favour of the SC verdict allowing women’s entry into the temple.
Speaking to TNM, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally office said, “We [the Devaswom Ministry] have received no information regarding the TDB changing its stance. If this was true, we would have received some indication. The report about the TDB changing its stance sounds like utter nonsense. At this stage of the legal process, when the verdict has already come out and it is at the review petition stage, where the bench merely reviews the earlier verdict on the basis of law, what sense does it make for the TDB to change its stance?”