CP Sugathan, the state general secretary of the Hindu Parliament, appears to have changed his earlier stance on the Sabarimala temple verdict. After stating that he would withdraw from the “Women’s Wall” event if it promoted pro-Sabarimala temple women’s entry views on Monday morning, later that day, he reportedly announced that he was not opposed to women’s entry into Sabarimala.
The Women’s Wall event, scheduled to be held on January 1, is a proposed human chain of women from Kasargode to Thiruvananthapuram, and is meant to spread awareness on the government’s stance on the Sabarimala issue. According to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, it is meant to show that “Kerala society cannot be sent back to the old dark ages by anyone.”
Sugathan’s appointment as the joint convener of the general council for the Women’s Wall sparked controversy as Sugathan was among the men who had heckled and stopped women journalists at Nilakkal in late October. Given that the women’s wall is meant to be a women-centric event held to highlight the issues at Sabarimala, Sugathan’s appointment drew criticism.
After stating that he was opposed to women’s entry to Sabarimala, he said he had joined the Women’s Wall event without being aware that it promoted a pro-Sabarimala temple women’s entry stance. On Monday morning, he had said that he would back out of the event if it was found to be pro-Sabarimala women’s entry. By Monday evening, he flip-flopped entirely on this view, and many others. At a Women’s Wall organisational meeting held at the Chief Minister’s office in Thiruvananthapuram, he announced that he was now in favour of women’s entry to Sabarimala.
He also reneged on his earlier remarks against Hadiya, whose religious conversion and marriage to SDPI member Shafin Jehan created controversy in Kerala, and had finally reached the Supreme Court. Sugathan had allegedly posted on Facebook earlier that Hadiya’s father should kill Hadiya and go to jail. On Monday evening, he said he would apologise to Hadiya. He also said that he undertook kar seva (the practice of travelling to Ayodhya to build a temple) at a point of time when he was immature.