Women between the ages of 10 and 50 stayed away from Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala for a second day yesterday following uneasy calm in Kerala amid a dawn-to-dusk shutdown called by Hindu groups and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Tension prevailed yesterday in the wake of the protest shutdown against the alleged police attack on protesters on Wednesday when the temple reopened even as a senior member of the Sabarimala priest’s family urged women from the 10-50 age group to respect tradition and not visit the shrine.
For centuries, the temple has banned women and girls between the ages of 10 and 50 from entering the holy site. But last month, the Supreme Court ruled the ban infringed on the right to worship.
Since then, the case has become a focal point for women’s rights in India.
On Wednesday a couple of women devotees were prevented from undertaking the trek to the hill temple and some women journalists were not allowed to carry on with their work amid violence by activists of Hindu groups affiliated to the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh. However, yesterday no women devotee turned up.
At the end of the day, A Padmakumar, president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), the custodian of the temple, told reporters they were ready to go to any extent to resolve the issue.
“Tomorrow we are having a meeting and we wish to ask if the protests will be called off if we decide to file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict,” asked Padmakumar, who is also a leader of the state’s ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Yesterday morning, Suhasini Raj, who works as the India reporter for The New York Times, along with a foreign colleague, managed to go past the Pamba gateway but was stopped midway by angry devotees who erected a human wall before her.
“I had reached half way and then the protests grew stronger. I was hit by a stone and then we decided to return. The police had provided us all the security,” said Raj, who had earlier pointed out that she came to do her job to speak to devotees.
Pathanamthitta District Collector P B Nooh said that Section 144 was in force and would be there till midnight today. Police would provide security to any woman who wished to go and pray, he said.
Of the 30 protesters arrested on Wednesday, 20 were produced before the Magistrate Court in Ranni near and remanded in two weeks judicial custody. The activists included a member of the priest’s family, Rahul Eashwar.
The state-wide shutdown called by the Sabarimala Karma Samithi yesterday was largely peaceful in Kerala and saw only a few private vehicles ply on the roads.
Stray incidents of protesters throwing stones on state-run buses in some parts of Kozhikode, Malappuram and Thiruvanathapuram were reported, prompting the Kerala State Road Transport Corp to suspend services.
Protesters attacked some shops that were open in the state capital. Most shops and markets, however, remained shut. There was poor attendance at the IT parks here and in Kochi.
The shutdown call coincided with a holiday that saw state and central government offices, banks and educational institutions shut.
Railway passengers were the worst hit as they failed to get taxis and public vehicles from stations.
Speaking to reporters at the temple premises, chief priest Kantararu Rajeevaru said: “We have the highest regards for women. And those who otherwise come to pray at the temple are treated with utmost respect.
“We always respect the law of the land but in the wake of the court’s ruling, we humbly request women that they should not try to break the tradition of this hallowed temple.”
State BJP chief P S Sreedharan Pillai blamed the state government for the unrest.
“This is outrageous,” he said. “We have decided to intensify our protest. From today till October 22, every day at 11.30am, 41 Yuva Morcha activists will break Section 144 and will get arrested.” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, now in the UAE, wrote in his Facebook post that the BJP and RSS were trying to turn the hallowed temple into a conflict zone.
“The devotees of the temple should realise this ploy but the state government is determined to thwart all such attempts and would deal with the situation in the appropriate manner,” he said.
GULF TIMES
