Violence rages over Indian temple
Twin arson and bomb attacks rocked southern India, continuing a violent backlash that followed the entry of two women into a Hindu temple that forbids female devotees.
The Sabarimala temple in Kerala state has been at the centre of a prolonged showdown between religious hardliners and authorities since September, when India’s top court overturned a ban on women aged 10 to 50 setting foot inside.
Police said unidentified attackers hurled a homemade bomb at the home of a politician from the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and set ablaze the office of its Hindu nationalist parent group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Both are opposed to the court’s order to allow women inside the temple.
No injuries were reported, police said. The fresh attacks came hours after unknown attackers bombed the house of a politician linked to the state’s ruling Communist Party, which has vowed to implement the court order.
One person has died and more than 270 others have been injured since Wednesday, when thousands protested after two women devotees in their 40s prayed inside the temple.
The two local women had become the first to access the shrine since the landmark verdict and months-long siege by Hindu hardlin- ers that forced dozens of women devotees to retreat from the gold-plated hilltop temple.
A third woman from Sri Lanka said she entered the temple on Thursday night but this was disputed by the temple authorities, who performed a “purification” ritual after the two other women made their way into the shrine.
More than 3,000 protesters have either been arrested or taken into preventive custo- dy after multiple clashes between police and demonstrators.
Kerala has a history of political violence between Hindu and the left-leaning parties but tensions in the region have escalated since the women entered the temple on Jan 2.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a member of the BJP, joined calls by his party and the RSS for a statewide shutdown to protest the women’s entrance.