The Sabarimala protests had its reverberations at a function attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kollam to inaugurate a bypass road on Tuesday. As Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan started speaking, a section of the audience tried to create a disturbance by chanting Saranam Ayyappa hymns, prompting him to warn the hecklers.
"It is better not to create unnecessary noise. Everyone should maintain decorum. Do not use this as a venue for showing off,” Vijayan said, and added that some people have come to the event just to make noise.
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Kerala has been witnessing widespread protests ever since a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court lifted a ban on women aged between 10 and 50 from entering the famous hill shrine. The CPI(M)-led LDF government has been at the receiving end of these protests, since it repeatedly maintained that it would implement the top court order.
Besides Modi, Governor P. Sathasivam, MLAs and MPs were present at the dais when the incident happened on Tuesday.
Modi, while addressing a gathering of party workers later in the day, lashed out at both the CPI(M) and the opposition Congress over their stand in the issue. He said the state government's conduct in the Sabarimala issue would go down as one of the "most shameful behaviours" by any party and government.
"We know that the Communists do not respect the Indian history, culture and spirituality but nobody imagined they would have such hatred," the prime minister said.
Slamming the "multiple stand" taken by the Congress and the party-led opposition front UDF in the state, he urged them to clear their stance.
With inputs from PTI
