Kochi, November 21: S. Ramachandran Pillai, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politburo member, launched a scathing attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Wednesday by saying that the members of the organisation (RSS) are behaving like Taliban and Khalistan terrorists. According to a tweet by ANI, Pillai questioned as to why were they trying to create trouble in Sabarimala despite the landmark Supreme Court verdict that allowed the entry of women into the shrine.

Pillai said the RSS should allow everything to be peaceful and they’re not doing it. Earlier this week, Kerala Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in Kozhikode that the arrested were not devotees. Vijayan claimed that a mass of RSS activists had grouped near the Sannidhanam and it was clear why they were there. "We cannot allow anyone to transform Sabarimala into a space of conflict,” the chief minister said. Sabarimala Temple Row: BJP, RSS Workers Protest Outside Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s House Against Detention of Devotees. 

Meanwhile, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan compared RSS workers in Sabarimala to Khalistan terrorists who had once laid siege to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. On November 18, nearly 300 people were arrested and removed from the Nadapanthal on the grounds that they had violated the curfew that had been imposed. Shiv Sena Hits out RSS and Allied Organisations over Ram Temple Rallies. 

On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in 4:1 verdict had paved the way for the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala Temple, saying the ban amounted to gender discrimination.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 21, 2018 12:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).