‘Kerala’s religious diversity in danger’, says former Mizoram governor Kummanam Rajasekharan

Kummanam Rajasekharan, 67, resigned as Mizoram governor on Friday amid calls for fielding him as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Lok Sabha candidate from Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram. A former BJP Kerala president, Rajasekharan spoke to Ramesh Babu about his plans, anger over the Supreme Court’s order last year allowing women of menstruating age to enter Kerala Sabarimala Tempe and how it would impact the national polls. Edited excerpts:

What prompted you to resign?

My state is at a crossroads. Many believers are still in jails for chanting hymns [in protest against the Supreme Court order]. The present [Left Democratic Front] regime is trampling on religious diversity. Many leaders of the state were also keen on my return and the party leadership approved it. I devoted my life to the organisation [BJP]; it is for it to decide where I should serve.

Is Sabarimala going to be a key election issue?

No doubt. Only the BJP stood with the believers. The repressive government has dealt with the issue brutally with many believers still in jails. Cases were slapped on women and aged believers for just chanting hymns. The state never witnessed such an agitation [against the entry of menstruating women into the shrine]. The state’s religious diversity is imperilled and the atheist government wants to impose a uniform religion. It is treading a dangerous path.

What is the way out and is not the court verdict binding on all?

The court is now considering a bunch of review petitions. In Kerala, each temple has its own customs and traditions. Can you implement north Kerala’s Parassinikaduvu Muthappan temple rituals in Sri Padmanabhaswami temple? Every village temple has got different customs. Believers are really hurt. It is not a place for activists either. It is an attack on the religious freedom. If the court cannot find a solution, we will approach the Centre to bring an ordinance [to reverse the verdict].

Are you going to be the candidate from Thiruvananthapuram to take on Congress leader Shashi Tharoor?

That is for the party to decide. I can contest from any of the 20 constituencies in the state.