Over 3,345 Sabarimala protesters arrested since Oct 26
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over 3,345 protesters who prevented women from entering the Sabarimala temple, have been arrested since October 26 while 517 cases have been registered at various police stations across Kerala, authorities said on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, Sabarimala tantri family member and activist Rahul Eashwar was arrested here taking the total number of arrests to 3,346. He has been taken to Kochi.
Eashwar was arrested after the police received a complaint stating that he had made provocative remarks over the issue at a press conference in Kochi last week.
Meanwhile, in the last 12 hours, over 500 arrests were recorded at police stations in Pathanamthitta district — where the Lord Ayyappa shrine is located — as well as Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Ernakulam.
So far only 122 are in remand, while others have been released on bail, according to the police.
However, Kerala Police chief Loknath Behra has directed that no arrest should be made of those people who protested by taking part in singing hymns and prayers.
These arrests have been made for defying the September 28 Supreme Court order that overturned a ban on women of menstrual age (10-50 years) from entering the hilltop temple where celibate deity Lord Ayyappa is worshipped.
Defending the arrests, state Communist Party of India — Marxist (CPM) Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Sunday told the media that this was normal police action when the rule of law is breached. “During the previous Congress-led UDF rule, over four lakh cases were registered against our workers. Is it not natural for the police to act when rules are broken?” asked Balakrishnan.
On October 17, the temple opened for the five-day monthly puja.
However, the protesters ensured that no women in the barred age group could enter sanctum sanctorum until October 22 when the gates closed.
EXPOSED: Meanwhile, the CPM politburo said in New Delhi that BJP President Amit Shah’s criticism of the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to the Sabarimala temple exposed who was behind the violence in the temple area.
“Shah has challenged the Supreme Court order on the entry of women to the Sabarimala temple and incited his partymen to defy the verdict. In doing so, he has exposed the real hand behind the violent protests against women’s entry into Sabarimala,” the CPM politburo said in a statement in New Delhi.
The CPM said that such incitement had also led to the “highly condemnable” arson attack on the ashram of Swamy Sandeepananda Giri.
BJP ‘WITH DEVOTEES’: The BJP will continue to stand by devotees opposed to the entry of all women to the Sabarimala temple, Kerala BJP President P S Sreedharan Pillai said on Sunday. Pillai also announced a series of protests to ensure that Sabarimala’s uniqueness — keeping away women in the age group of 10 to 50 — was kept intact.
The temple closed after five days of monthly puja on October 22. It will now open at 5 pm on November 5 and close the next day at 10 pm.