On the afternoon of September 28, shortly after India’s apex court handed down what many consider a historic verdict ending age-related restrictions on the entry of women at the hilltop shrine at Sabarimala, Ramesh Chennithala, the Congress’ Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, appeared before the press with a brief, somewhat unprepared statement.
He affirmed that the Congress ‘welcomed’ the Supreme Court ruling and that every Indian must abide by it, no matter what. The statement was seen as neither here, nor there, somehow indicating there was more to come. If rights activists expected a full-throated endorsement of the verdict by a leader of a party, conceived as liberal and progressive, it never came.