A body that governs most temples in central Kerala asked for “Hindu policemen and policewomen” to be deployed for a yearly festival at a shrine in Ernakulam before withdrawing the request that it admitted was definitely a lapse.

The Cochin Devaswom Board said it has also told the officer who sent the letter to explain why he had made religion a condition for the police deployment.

“There is definitely a lapse and we have already sought an explanation from the officer,” board president A.B. Mohanan told The Telegraph.

The controversy comes at a time the Left-ruled state has been at the vanguard of the movement against the new citizenship matrix.

The Cochin Devaswom Board, which administers most temples in central Kerala, had sent the first letter to the police on January 23.

The letter, signed by Jagdish, an assistant commissioner of the devaswom board, said adequate police personnel were needed for the February 8 Thaipooyam festival at the Shiva Subrahmanya Temple in Vyttila, opposite a bus stand in the heart of Ernakulam city, to control traffic and the rush of pilgrims. It specified that only Hindu forces be deployed at the temple to Subrahmanya (Kartikeya).

While religion has been a condition for entry into the sanctum sanctorum of temples, it has never been a criterion for police deployment anywhere else on temple premises or outside.

The police then brought the letter to the notice of Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran, who ordered the board to withdraw it.

Mohanan said religion has always been a criterion for deploying police personnel inside the sanctum sanctorum. “Since most temples allow only Hindus to enter the sanctum sanctorum we have generally followed that requirement. But the letter sent by our assistant commissioner was a big mistake,” the board president admitted.

The board withdrew the letter on Saturday evening.

Jagdish, the assistant commissioner who had sent the first letter, couldn’t be reached for comment.

A fresh letter without any religious criterion is now pending for consideration with the local police, but the controversy has caught the attention of many.

Prayar Gopalakrishnan, a former president of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Travancore Devaswom Board, said such letters could set dangerous precedents.

“I wouldn’t have raised objections if a temple insisted on religion as a condition for forces to be deployed inside the sanctum sanctorum.

“But such acts can lead to dangerous trends, ” Gopalakrishnan added.

Gopalakrishnan is one of the review petitioners in the Sabarimala case and has called for maintaining status quo by not allowing women of childbearing age to enter the hill shrine.

He said the Travancore board also seeks police deployment for events but it has never specified “in writing” the religion of the personnel required. It is “understood” that those posted inside the sanctum sanctorum will be Hindus, he said.

“I am surprised the (Cochin temple) board has not taken action against the official who has committed a huge blunder. Fortunately, the board got him to withdraw the letter. If not, this would have become an unhealthy precedent for others to follow,” he said. “Just one such precedent is sufficient for such dangerous examples to be lapped up by others.”

Tribal activist Ammini K. Wayanad slammed the Cochin Devaswom Board. “They don’t have any right to seek police forces of any particular community,” she said.