Kochi: Noted orator and thinker Sunil P Elayidom, who strongly advocates implementation of Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala temple, Thursday received threats from unidentified persons, police said.
A complaint has also been lodged with the police alleging that danger marks were drawn in saffron colour on the doors of Elayidom’s office at Kalady Sanskrit University.
Besides, the name board of Elayidom, who is a Malayalam language professor at the university, was also found broken, they said adding a probe has been launched on the basis of the complaint filed by the University authorities.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the “attack” on Elayidom’s office. In a statement, Vijayan said Elayidom’s office was “attacked as he took a strong stand against the communal agenda of RSS.” He alleged that the outfit has adopted a “style of attacking and threatening” those who oppose them. Vijayan said police would initiate strong action against the culprits behind the incident.
Elayidom has alleged that he had been receiving threats and abusive messages through social media from members of rightwing Hindu outfits since he started speaking on public platforms supporting the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala women entry issue.
Elayidom, who is a former leader of the Students Federation of India, said he has no plans to seek police protection in view of rising threats. “I have been talking against the Hindutva politics for the last four, five years. I am not scared,” Elayidom told PTI.
He said, “recently, a threat message, saying that I should be stoned to death was received on my Facebook page. Then also, I did not file a complaint with the police.” “Later, I came to know that the police is probing the issue based on a complaint filed by a man in North Paravur,” he claimed.
This is the second such incident since Swami Sandeepananda Giri’s Salagramam ashram in Thiruvananthapuram was attacked. Giri’s ashram was attacked after he supported Supreme Court verdict on entry of women of all ages into Sabarimala temple.
The state had witnessed massive protests from devotees at various places, including Sabarimala, Nilackal and Pamba, against permitting women of all ages to enter the shrine when it was opened for monthly poojas from 17 to 22 October and a special pooja on 5 and 6 November