The police provided protection to the group right from the point of entry on Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. The group managed to reach Pamba without being challenged. But at Pamba they ran into problems.

The police, however, quite inexplicably changed their mind and virtually let the group down. While trekking to the shrine, they came face to face with a hostile group of devotees bent upon stopping them. It was a dangerous situation. And but for the presence of mind of the police, the women would have been lynched.

The dismayed women have blamed the police for letting them down after promising protection. It was the police which forced them to beat a hasty retreat in the face of the unruly mob, they alleged. If they were not sure of providing protection, why did they allow them to reach Pamba? That was their question for which the police had no answer.

The government has lost the will to implement the Supreme Court order despite their oft-repeated declarations to the contrary.

Evidently, the inept handling of the situation has caused acute embarrassment to the government. If the government did not have the nerve to tackle the situation, it should have stopped the women at the Nilackal base camp. That would have averted the enactment of the high-voltage drama at Pamba and the resultant loss of face for the beleaguered government. .

The beneficiary of the government’s pusillanimity was, of course, the BJP-RSS. The saffron brigade once again used the incident to extract maximum mileage.

Not surprisingly, the opposition took full advantage of the government’s discomfiture. The Congress leaders claimed, and rightly so, that the government once again helped the BJP-RSS to gain from the unfortunate episode. The saffron camp gleefully grabbed the chance with both hands to infuse new life into a movement, which had all but lost steam.

The episode also exposed the government’s blow-hot-blow-cold stand on the sensitive issue. The government continues to declare that it wants to implement the SC order. But when push comes to shove, it develops cold feet and beats a hasty retreat, inviting ridicule.

If the Vijayan government is really keen on saving its face, it should stop the women in the 10-50 age group who attempt to visit the shrine at the Nilackal camp. They should be told that in view of the surcharged atmosphere, the government and the police are simply not in a position to ensure their safety. That being the reality, the women must wait for tempers and passions to cool down before they try to visit the shrine again.

Hesitation to do so would only encourage the Sangh Parivar and the Congress-led United Democratic Front to twist their knives in the government’s wound. (IPA Service)