500 women cops to be posted at Sabarimala
KOTTAYAM/KOCHI: Amid mounting protests in Kerala over the Supreme Court order permitting women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala temple, the Kerala police said 500 women personnel will be deployed at the famed temple which will open for its monthly pujas later this month. Meanwhile, a tribal community, which holds some traditional rights in the rituals related to the temple, said they would keep vigil in the hills around the Lord Ayyappa shrine to make sure that its customs are not affected.
The Mala Arayan community said they were protesting to protect the shrine’s age old customs. Their ancestors, settled in 18 hills including Sabarimala, are historically said to be close aides of Lord Ayyappa. “People from the Mala Arayan community will keep vigil on the 18 hills, including Sabarimala, to make sure that the customs of the Lord Ayyappa temple are not affected,” Aikya Mala Arayan Mahasabha and its Dharma Sangham said.
With plans to tighten security at the shrine, Kerala police chief Lokanath Behera said, “Laws have to be adhered to... Our police force consists of 6,000 women police officials and we need 500 for the Sabarimala temple.”
While the main two-monthlong festival season of the temple begins in the third week of November, the temple will be opened for a few days at the beginning of the Malayalam calendar every month. In October, the temple doors will be opened on 18th.
“Our forefathers had fought sands of Mala Arayan community members will join the movement to protect the customs of the Sabarimala temple,” its leaders, CR Dileepkumar and KN Padmanabhan, told reporters on Friday.
Angry Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers on Friday forcefully closed the office of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which managed the temple, at Pandalam to protest against the body’s decision to not file a review petition, while hundreds of Congress workers sat on a day-long protest in Pathanamthitta where