Review petition is imperative.

Sabarimala, the hill abode of Lord Ayyappa, is one of the most important pilgrim centres in the country. It is the most famous and prominent Ayyappa shrine.  At  Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa is worshipped as a Brahmachari.

Devotees are expected to observe a mandatory fast of 41 days, beginning on the first day of Malayalam month Vrishchikam, from mid-November. The fasting highlights the significance of abstinence and austerity. Every devotee visiting Sabarimala temple shall wear a garland made of Tulsi or Rudraksha. Rituals start with the wearing of garland. A devotee who has visited Sabarimala more than 18 times, called as Guruswamy, will give the mala after performing a pooja. The devotee is then called as Swami or Ayyappa.

A swami should take bath twice a day.
As the Lord is considered as a brahmchari, it is a must that devotees visiting him should observe celibacy.
The devotee should subside hunger and control food intake during the period.
An Ayyapa is expected to speak the truth and commit no sin during the 41 day period. He must be fully devoted to Lord.  Swamis usually wear black, saffron or dark blue dress and will walk barefoot.

Then, the significant questions are :
Who will be the guruswami among women to perform pooja before giving mala to devotee? 
Since male devotee is known as Ayyappa, what will be name of woman devotee?
Is the name brahmachari applicable to woman devotee?

Presumably, these and other practical difficulties may not have considered by SC before pronouncing the present verdict.

Seemingly the Left government of Kerala has not placed these issues before the court and that resulted an adverse judgement which strongly affect believers' sentiments. It is, therefore, imperative for the Devaswom Board or State government  to file  a review petition with the SC for reconsideration of the verdict on Sabarimala.

It is to be remembered that strength of
most people lies in their faith
K A Solaman

Thou shalt commit adultery!

"Thou shalt not commit adultery" is one of the Ten Commandments in Christian belief. Adultery is sexual relations in which at least one participant is married to someone else. Sexual relations are designed to unify husband and wife and it is a source of enjoyment and to result in children. This commandment puts a firm basis for all happy familiy relationship in all civilised groups across the globe.

Now, in India five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court  unanimously ruled to scrap Section 497, which deals with adultery, of the Indian Penal Code. Calling the law archaic and saying that it violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution the justices said adultery couldnot be a criminal offence.

In fact the verdict gives license to married couples for adulterous relationships and hence sanctity of marriage ends up in peril. As men are the most offenders in such cases the making of Section  497 gender neutral is, out and out, an anti women decision.

K A Solaman

All should be for truth

The nun, who now lives Kottayam, called Jalandhar bishop a rapist and in return the bishop accused her of unholy relation with a man. The nun alleges
she was assaulted after summoning her on the pretext of discussing an important issue in 2014 and raped her 13 times since then. Bishop, on the other hard  rejected the allegations, calling them a conspiracy against the church. Nun called Bishop Mulakal a predator and alleged at least 20 nuns were forced to leave the congregation due to his sexual advances. The sisters who are in support of nun went on public strike.

On seeing this all become judges and went to support  sisters leaving scant regards to the words of Bishop. Is it right, is a big question before us?

The alleged incident took place 4 years back and it is quite natural that the probe will take its own time. Then who are these people like actor Reema, her husband, Joy Mathew and other activists to denounce the bishop and ask the police to arrest Bishop. These people need publicity and hence hijack all sensational events for their gain. Their act as self proclaimed judge, is condemnable

The police submission  that there are  contradictions in the statements of the victim, witnesses and the bishop should be taken into account by the activists before they leap.

All should be for truth, no matter who, nun or bishop tells it. All should be for justice, no matter who it is for or against.

K A Solaman

Six-six hartal

The Monday six-six hartal, called by the ruling  LDF and  opposition UDF to protest against the rising fuel price, was a big hit. With this the new Kerala mission has been completed successfully as the state is fit to give up one day Income by abandoning all work. Shops and commercial establishments remained closed and vehicles kept off roads. Attendance in offices and educational institutions was not a matter for all would get salary of hartal day without doing any work.

No major untoward incidents was reported except one at Pattanamthitta where State Women Commission member Shahida Kamal was assualted by a few hartal thugs. This congress turned comrade was excepting this for quite long and hartal day was the best opportunity for it. More interesting is: leaders of both fronts making it clear that flood relief works in the state had not been affected due to hartal. The implication is, they were happy with bottles and snacks at home. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President and known hartal hater M M Hassan,  urging the party workers to hold the strike without disrupting normal life and relief works, is very interesting.

How long the ordinary people Kerala do suffer from hartals, is a peritinent question. Any man can make mistakes, but only  idiots persist in their errors.

K A Solaman

Fuel price hike

The fuel price rise is alarming. It is increasing day by day. In Kerala, petrol price is Rs 83.30 per litre in Thiruvananthapuram and diesel price is
Rs77.18. If this trend continues price of all essential commodities shoot up. Once the price of commodities has gone high it will never come back.

However, the Congress party called  Bharat bandh on September 10 will do nothing against fuel price hikie. Instead it will paralyse the normal life of poor  people, especially daily wage owners. All nationwide shutdowns affect not the rich but the poor.

K A Solaman