Sabarimala reopens, but women turned back
Protesters opposed to entry of women into the Sabarimala temple chant hymns at a base camp on way to Kerala shrine.
Protests, physical assaults and a flurry of arrests marked the opening day of pilgrimage at Kerala’s Sabarimala Ayyappa temple yesterday, when women pilgrims attempted to make their first visit to the temple following a verdict by India’s Supreme Court.
Scores of devotees gathered at key points on the South Indian pilgrimage route, including Nilackal and Pamba, as women attempted a historic pilgrimage to the temple, which has been a male preserve for decades. But right-wing Hindu groups, while trying to prevent women of menstrual age entering for the first time in centuries, attacked women journalists despite the presence of hundreds of police officers.
Sabarimala temple in the southern state of Kerala has been the cause of tension since India’s top court ruled last month that banning women from entering infringed the right to worship.
Threat of mass suicide
Hardline Hindu groups have threatened to commit mass suicide to prevent women from entering in a cultural battle between the Supreme Court — which recently delivered landmark judgements legalising gay sex and adultery — and traditional bodies that still hold sway in a deeply religious country.
The Hindu groups, that include Shiv Sena, a former ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, say the prohibition on women of menstrual age entering is required to appease the temple’s deity, Ayyappan, considered eternally celibate by devotees.
Kerala’s Communist government, that runs the state along secular lines, has pledged uphold the court ruling.
But some women devotees were forcibly prevented from proceeding towards the temple site, which opened to worshippers for the first time since the court decision at 5pm yesterday. A female journalist from CNN NEWS 18 was attacked by protesters, who smashed the windows of the car she was travelling in view of the police, footage from the channel showed.
“It was shocking that officers were there doing nothing,” the reporter, Radhika Ramaswamy, said. “Protesters had free rein, attacking our vehicle.” Footage from CNN NEWS 18 showed police chasing protesters through dense forest near Nilakkal, the main entry point to the temple, which is about 18km away. The protesters had been throwing stones, the channel reported.
Saritha Balan, a journalist from The News Minute, was kicked by protesters while trying to access the site, while camera crews from several other channels had their vehicles vandalised. Earlier, a woman travelling to Sabarimala by bus was stopped at the bus stand near the gateway by a group of protesters. The woman, identified as Libi, came from the district of Alappuzha.
Protesters defiant
“When democracy and the Supreme Court order are being defied by protesters, I have come with the firm intent of visiting Sabarimala,” Libi, who uses only one name, said. “I am not scared. The police are providing full security. I have come alone,” she said, adding she was ready to face trouble.
Police have registered cases against more than 50 people in connection with the incident. A family of four from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, including at least one woman, were shielded by police after protesters shouting slogans prevented them from reaching the temple.
A key priest at the temple, Kandararu Rajeevaru, denied reports the temple would be closed if women did manage to enter for prayers.
“Nobody will be allowed to turn away anybody. We will do everything possible to implement the law of the land,” said Inspector-General of Police Manoj Abraham. “None will be allowed to take the law into their hands.”