Kannur, Oct 01: Kerala Devaswom Minister G Sudhakaran
on Sunday said Kannada actress Jaimala`s claim that she entered
the famous Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala years back was
part of a "conspiracy" and warned she would have to face
criminal prosecution if she did not apologise.
"Jaimala`s assertion that she entered the temple (where
women in 10-50 age group are barred) and touched the idol in
her youth in 1987 had turned out be a false claim and I had
appealed to her through the media to tender apology for her
false statement and withdraw herself from the controversy. If
she is not willing to do so she will have to face criminal
prosecution," he said.
"The alleged incident had its origin due to the "wrong
doings" of certain people, he added.
"The whole unfortunate controversy seemed to be a part of
conspiracy hatched by certain individuals," he said at a
function held at the Mookambika temple at Pallikkunnu, near
here, for laying the foundation stone for an auditorium for
the shrine being built at an estimated cost of Rs 20 lakhs.
His comments come at a time when a police team, which
probed the actress` allegation had reportedly found that there
were reason to suspect that the whole thing was a part of a
conspiracy to cast the temple authorities and traditional
priests in poor light.
Stating that there had been widespread allegations of
corruption in the functioning of various Devaswom boards in
the state, the minister said the government was planning to
amend the existing legislation to have control over the
functioning of such boards which manage temple affairs.
Bureau Report
