Hyderabad: The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India (CPI) welcomed the Supreme Court verdict permitting entry of women to the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
In a statement, the National Secretariat of the CPI said the judgment of the Supreme Court ended an age-old practice and permitted women to enter the Sabarimala temple. The five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, said banning the entry of women into the shrine amounts to gender discrimination and the practice violates the rights of Hindu women.
The verdict clearly said that patriarchy in religion cannot be allowed to trump the right to pray and practice religion and observed that any rule based on biological characteristics cannot pass muster of the constitutional test. The verdict in fact upholds Party’s consistent stand that religion cannot be cover to deny women any of the legitimate rights including the right to worship, the statement said.
SCs/STs Quota in Promotion
The National Secretariat of the Party also welcomed the Supreme Court verdict upholding reservation in promotion for SCs and STs, and the directive to the Union government to go ahead with reservation in promotion for employees belonging to the SC and ST category in accordance with law. The vacation bench comprising Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Ashok Bhushan took into account the Centre’s submissions that entire process of promotion has come to a standstill due to the orders passed by various high courts and the apex court had also ordered for “status quo” in a similar matter in 2015.(NSS)
