Congress' stance on Sabarimala will only help RSS-BJP's campaign against secular democratic values, says Sitaram Yechury

New Delhi: Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) general secretary Sitaram Yechury hit out at the Congress over its stand on the Sabarimala temple issue, saying it would only help the campaign of the RSS-BJP combine against secular-democratic values.

He said while the Congress’ central leadership had welcomed the Supreme Court judgment as a progressive step, its Kerala unit had opposed the verdict.

Yechury said the Congress’ stand could not be accepted by any political party which believed in secular and democratic values.

“The Kerala unit of Congress is opposing the implementation of the verdict and is protesting along with the BJP. By such a stance the Congress is only helping the RSS-BJP combine campaign against secular-democratic values and the right to equality enshrined in the Constitution,” he told reporters.

He alleged the BJP and the RSS opposed the apex court’s judgment on the issue and were behind the agitations in Kerala.

The CPM had earlier welcomed the verdict on entry of women of all ages to the ancient Kerala shrine, saying the verdict upholds equal rights for women.

In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on 28 September lifted a ban that prevented women and girls between the menstrual age of 10 to 50 from entering the temple, stating the century-old Hindu religious practice was illegal and unconstitutional.

The constitution bench in a 4:1 verdict held that the ban was gender discrimination and the practice violated rights of Hindu women.