Wishesh Magazine November_2018 Wishesh Magazine November 2018 | Page 67

The top court granted women
between the age of 10 to
50 entry into Sabarimala
temple, breaking temple’s
antique tradition of restricting
menstruating women from
entering its premises.
Regardless of Supreme
Court’s verdict protests
prevailed in Kerala opposing
the entry of girls and women
of menstrual age into the
shrine.
On October 17, the temple
opened at 5 p.m. for the
monthly pujas which
concluded on October 22.
Protesters ensured that no
female in the 10-50 age could
enter the sanctum sanctorum
of the shrine.
The Kerala unit of Shiv Sena
threatened to stage mass
suicides if women in 10-50
age group are permitted to
enter the Sabarimala temple.
the mission to implement the
Supreme Court order lifting
age bar on entry of women to
the temple. The other day, five women
from Guntur in Andhra
Pradesh tried to get a
darshan.
An attempt by two women
to enter temple was
disappointed near the steps
of the shrine when the LDF
government red-flagged
the journey amid mounting
protests and a threat from the
thantri (priest) to close down
the temple. The two women who made the
journey are Rehana Fathima,
31, of Kochi, and journalist
Kavitha from Andhra Pradesh.
Both reached the police station
at Pamba Thursday night,
seeking police protection to go
up the hill. However, all the women
had to return before
reaching the sanctum
sanctorum following
massive protests by Lord
Ayyappa devotees.
When the women escorted
by police headed towards
the temple and devotees
gathered near the steps, the
government sensed trouble. It
then asked the police to end The women, wearing
protective gear and helmet,
moved towards the shrine. A
police contingent led by IG
S Sreejith and SP Debesh
Kumar Behera escorted them.
The authorities in Kerala
launched a high-level a
crackdown on protesters
who obstructed women and
have arrested over 1,400
people across the state.
NOVEMBER 2018 | WWW.WISHESH.NET