Sabarimala row: BJP MPs delegation seeks Guv's intervention to restore 'peace'

Thiruvananthapuram: A four-member delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Members of Parliament (MP) on Sunday met Kerala Governor P Sathasivam seeking his urgent "intervention and appropriate action" to restore "peace and tranquillity in Sabarimala temple."

The delegation also submitted its complaint to the Governor with regard to the difficulties faced by the devotees and lack of facilities in Sabarimala. They have requested Sathasivam to 'treat the matter as SOS (International Morse code distress signal).

Earlier on Sunday, the BJP MPs delegation held discussions with the state BJP core committee members on the Sabarimala issue and also addressed the grievances of the devotees. The team is also scheduled to meet the members of Pandalam Palace and Thantri family in Pandalam town later today.

On November 27, BJP president Amit Shah had appointed the four-member delegation to take firsthand account of ongoing agitation outside Sabarimala temple.

"The delegation will also assess the atrocities being committed to Satyagrahis, the indiscriminate arrests being made by police during this agitation and to meet the general public and party workers in particular," an official statement said. The delegation is supposed to submit its report within 15 days to Shah.

The Sabarimala temple and surrounding areas witnessed a string of protests recently over the Supreme Court's September 28 order that lifted the ban on the entry of women between the age group of 10 to 50 years inside the Lord Ayyappa temple.

Till now, no woman of the previously forbidden age group has entered the hill-top temple due to widespread protests.