Sabarimala

Several review pleas have been filed in the Supreme Court, which in a 4:1 majority verdict on September 28 said divinity and devotion cannot be subjected to the rigidity and stereotypes of gender.

Protests erupted elsewhere after crucial talks held in capital Thiruvananthapuram amongthe tantri (supreme priest of Sabarimala), the erstwhile royal family of Pandalam (considered the custodians of the temple) and Travancore Devaswom Board, or TDB, which is responsible for the administration of the temple, could not find a solution.

“We want TDB to submit a review petition (against the court order) immediately. But officials said they will discuss the review petition on October 19. We’re upset that they are unwilling to discuss it even at the eleventh hour. We came out of the meeting because they’re not ready to hear our views,” said Sasikumar Verma, a member of the Pandalam family that supports the ban on the entry of women of all ages.

Earlier this month, the Pandalam family and the tantri turned down CM Vijayan’s invitation for talks.

After a weekly Cabinet meeting, Vijayan said the state will not allow anyone to disrupt law and order. “The government will ensure facilities to devotees to go to the temple and offer prayers. We won’t submit a review petition either,” he said.

“Some people are misleading a section of devotees. It is sad even the Congress is part of a movement being led by many Sangh Parivar outfits,” Vijayan said.

BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai said, “It seems the government wants a showdown with devotees...the government is fully responsible for the sorry state.”

Pathanamthitta parliamentarian Anto Anotny, in whose constituency the temple is located, requested the Centre to bring an ordinance to stop the entry of women of all age groups into the hill shrine.

“The Sabarimala temple will open for monthly pooja tomorrow evening (for the first time since the top court order). We all are very concerned. This time, the centuries-old pilgrimage to Sabarimala, which is a festival of all faiths, is in the shadow of conflicts,” the Congress leader said in Erumely, an important pilgrim centre linked to the Lord Ayyappa faith.

According to TDB, which manages over 1,200 temples in the state, 35 million people visited the temple last year during a threemonth season beginning November. ern contraceptives such as intrauterine devices, injectables and contraceptive pills, drove women’s sexual and economic emancipation in India, much like the contraceptive pill did in developed countries in the ’60s.

Gaps remain. “The desired fertility rate of 1.8 in India is lower than the fertility rate of 2.3, which means many women are still having more children than they want. There is still an unmet need for quality contraception, which must be met as fertility is not just a population issue but also a women’s rights and health issue,” said Poonam Muttreja, executive director of the Population Foundation of India.

Agrees Chandra: “Spacing methods give women more control. This condom business doesn’t work, as women are often not in a position to insist.”