Pinarayi spoke on Sanatana Dharma; Will he act now? |
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s hard-hitting and enlightening speech at Sivagiri Mutt cautioning against the appropriation of Sree Narayana Guru by the Sangh Parivar and his critique of Sanatana Dharma as a tool to perpetuate caste discrimination has grabbed national headlines. It has also checkmated the charges that the recent postures of Pinarayi and his comrades against Muslim fundamentalism are intended to appease Hindus leaving the Left fold towards the BJP. Whatever else one may accuse him of, Pinarayi Vijayan stands apart from today's leaders vying to be the blue-eyed boys of religious and caste leaders.
However, the question remains: Will Pinarayi walk the talk? An immediate opportunity is now ready for him to seize and uphold what Guru stood for. A firm decision by him and the government can put to end a longstanding discriminatory convention against backward castes at the Sabarimala shrine. The hill shrine, considered the most secular, remains Kerala's only temple where the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) officially enforces the exclusionary convention by a written guideline that only Malayala Namboodiris can become priests.
The ending of this discrimination - not just a social relic but a violation of the constitution - would be a historic New Year gift to Kerala. It may also help the state reclaim its radical legacy and an achievement for the Left when the Indian Communist party enters its centenary this year. Its immediate political significance would also be decisive when an anti-incumbency wave stares the LDF ahead of the panchayat and assembly elections.
The state should act now as the Supreme Court has sought its response in a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by candidates belonging to the Ezhava caste whose applications to the Melsanthi post were rejected by the TDB citing its notification that mandates Malayala Namboodiri reservation. The SLP followed the Kerala High Court’s dismissal in February 2024 of the plea against the TDB notification that it amounted to untouchability proscribed by the Constitution. Among the candidates who were rejected was also Shaji Aravindan, the chief priest at the temple belonging to the Cheerappanchira family of Muhamma, Alappuzha where Lord Ayyappa is believed to have trained in martial arts. The girl of the family who fell in love with the young Lord is venerated as Malikappurathamma at Sabarimala. (Cheerappanchira has a Communist connection also as Susheela Gopalan, the late CPI(M) leader and wife of the legendary AK Gopalan and C.K. Chandrappan, former CPI state secretary, belonged to it.)
It should be an embarrassment to the LDF and Pinarayi that the TDB they appointed has been continuing with the discrimination against backward caste priests in Sabarimala and forcefully defending it in court. Despite the TDB started appointing non-Brahmin priests from 1993, no governments have dared to end the discrimination at Sabarimala although litigation against it has been going on since 2017. Even the Supreme Court had ordered in 2002 against the convention that only Brahmins should be appointed as temple priests when a case was filed against the first non-Brahmin (KS Rakesh) appointment by TDB in 1993. The apex court observed in the case (N. Adithyan vs TDB) that the appointment of priests was a secular act which cannot be discriminatory.
Eminent lawyer and legal luminary, Mohan Gopal, who is arguing in the ongoing case cited that the TDB notification for Sabarimala violated the Constitution (Articles 14, 15, 16, 17, and 21). However, the High Court’s Division Bench consisting of Justices Anil K Narendran and PG Ajith Kumar dismissed the arguments.
Subsequently, on the SLP filed against the High Court order, the Supreme Court Division Bench consisting of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan sent a notice last August to the state government for its response. Though the next hearing was scheduled for October 25, it was extended as Kerala Yogakshema Sabha requested to implead in the case.
The previous Pinarayi government in 2017 introduced reservation for SC and ST candidates to the priests’ post in TDB. Today, priests from the “lower castes” outnumber upper castes in recruitment of priests in over 1000 temples run by TDB. Yet, only Brahmin priests are appointed in prominent and richest shrines like Sabarimala, Vaikom, or Ettumanoor or those not under the TDB like Guruvayur and Padmanabhaswamy temples. “That proves the discrimination is driven more by economic considerations than religion or rituals. They want to monopolise the rich temples and don’t mind backward caste priests in unimportant or less prosperous shrines” says Mohan Gopal. He also wondered why other non-Brahmins like the Nairs remain uninterested in the issue despite suffering discrimination.
The hesitancy of the Pinarayi government is likely owing to the political backlash it faced over women’s entry to Sabarimala. Despite the initial bravado shown by the government’ and Pinarayi to implement the landmark Supreme Court order of 2018 revoking the ban on women of menstrual age, they turned tail after Congress and Sangh Parivar set off massive agitations. The apex court also subsequently went for a review of the constitutional bench’s judgement.
However, Pinarayi and the LDF should realise that unlike the women's entry issue, the ending of the Brahmin monopoly is unlikely to trigger significant political or social opposition. The Sangh Parivar has repeatedly held that all competent Hindus irrespective of caste should be allowed to become priests in every temple including Sabarimala and Guruvayur. (However, it had initially supported women's entry in Sabarimala but shifted later.) The Sangh supported having non-Brahmin priests in every temple even in the recent debates over Pinarayi’s Sivagiri speech.
It may also be recalled that the late RSS ideologue, P. Madhavji, had led the historic Paliyam Proclamation of October 6, 1985, which called for members of every Hindu caste the right to become priests. This was after an Ezhava candidate (Mathanam Vijayan) was denied appointment as a priest in Sabarimala by TDB in 1979.
Often cited as the “Second Temple Entry Proclamation”, Paliyam Declaration was made at the historic meeting held in Paliyam palace in Chendamangalam in Ernakulam district of leaders of seven prominent Namboodiri Vaidika families in the presence of Azhvanchery Thamprakkal, head of the community. The meeting also set up a school under Madhavji’s compatriot Azhakath Sasthrasarman Namboodiripad in Aluva, to teach the tantric rites necessary for qualifying as priests to every Hindu, irrespective of castes. Most importantly, the meeting proclaimed that “Brahmanya” was not a birthright (Janma) but earned through knowledge or Karma. This was in line with the guiding principle of the original RSS ideology to unify all Hindus irrespective of castes although in practice the organisation remained driven by hegemonic and hierarchical caste perspectives. Scholars have later noted that the Paliyam Declaration, intended the recasting of caste from an “ascribed category” to an “achieved cultural category", was central to Hindu nationalists' construction of a coherent Hindu community.
As the BJP is now actively wooing backward castes all over India, successfully implementing its “subaltern saffron” agenda, it is unlikely to change its stand on this matter. In 2015, the then-state BJP President Kummanam Rajasekharan said that he wanted the Paliyam Declaration to be implemented. “The Paliyam Declaration clearly states that performing pooja in temples should not be a birthright. Irrespective of caste, those who have learnt it and are competent should be allowed to do so. This should apply to all temples including Sabarimala and Guruvayur”. It is a different story that even those backward caste persons who were trained by the Thanthra Vidyapeetom led by Namboodiripad to embrace “Shodasha samskara” and who were even those appointed as priests in temples faced stiff resistance from upper caste believers and forced to take up other jobs.
However, beyond its political cost-benefit calculations, it is a blot on Kerala’s progressive tradition and a violation of Constitutional principles. The state that led the way with the Temple Entry Proclamation of 1936 and dismantled Brahminical monopolies in the 20th century must not allow such practices to persist in the 21st century. The TDB’s written guideline enshrining Brahmin exclusivity is not only unconstitutional but also morally indefensible in a state that prides itself on social reform.
It is disgraceful that the state-appointed TDB has codified the discrimination as its first guideline and been defending it in court. The worst is that it continues to be in force and used by TDB to deny equal opportunities to persons of other castes even under a Communist-led government. If Pinarayi acts decisively to end caste-based discrimination in temple priest appointments, he can transform his Sivagiri speech from rhetoric into reality. Such a move would also serve as a powerful reminder that the ideals of Sree Narayana Guru still guide Kerala’s governance in the modern era.
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