WOMEN DEFY PROTESTS, SNEAK INTO HINDU TEMPLE
Two women made history Wednesday by entering one of India’s holiest Hindu temples in defiance of hardline activists blockading the shrine from female worshippers. The Sabarimala temple, in Kerala state, has been at the centre of a politically charged standoff after the Supreme Court lifted a centuries-old ban on women of child-bearing age from praying within its sacred walls. Violence erupted as news spread that the women had defied traditionalists, backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, by entering the temple for the first time since the court ruling in September. Police fired tear gas, stun grenades and used a water cannon as clashes between rival groups erupted across Kerala, local media reported. Several officers were reportedly injured. The women entered under police escort before dawn and left undetected after offering prayers inside the shrine.