Kerala waited with bated breath ahead of the opening of the Sabarimala temple on Wednesday, the first time since the Supreme Court allowed women of all age groups to enter the shrine, under the shadow of ominous warnings of 'mass suicides' and threats of disruption.
Police had to arrest eight protesters at Nilakkal who tried to check vehicles to prevent the entry of women between the age of 10-50 to the hill shrine in the wee hours of the day. Police personnel, including women, were then deployed on both sides of the road to facilitate traffic.
Nilakkal was tense since Tuesday midnight itself when protesters entered a bus and forcefully took away a woman from Chennai. Panchavarna (40) was travelling along with her husband Palani (45). The police soon rescued the couple.
The police also dismantled the makeshift protest venue of the agitating devotees at Nilakkal. The state police chief has directed the range IGs and district police chiefs to take stringent action against people who block the journey of women devotees to Sabarimala. He also directed to register cases against those checking the vehicles. Only KSRTC buses are being allowed from Nilakkal, now the base camp of the pilgrimage, to Pamba.
The last-ditch effort by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the temple, to defuse the situation came to nought with the Pandalam royal family and other stakeholders walking out of a meeting called by it over its reluctance to discuss the issue of filing a review petition against the apex court order.
Meanwhile, hundreds of women devotees of Lord Ayyappa, the eternally celibate deity of Sabarimala, picketed the road to the hill shrine and prevented women they suspected were of menstrual age from proceeding to the shrine some 20 km away.
Lustily chanting "Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa" hailing the Lord, the devotees checked buses and private vehicles for girls and women of the 'banned' age group and forced them to abandon their journey.
also read
- Two Austrian Jewish women who tore down pro-Palestine poster in Kochi booked
- Kerala: Motorcyclist gets entangled in rope tied for PM's security, dies
- The Kerala Story: Malayalis crowdsource about Rs 30 Cr in four days to save man from gallows in Saudi Arabia
- Despite uproar, two more Kerala Christian dioceses plan to screen 'The Kerala Story'
Among those was a woman journalist Ritu, who claimed she was heading for the temple on assignment and had no intention of entering the shrine, something that could have offended the religious sensibilities of Ayyappa devotees.
"No woman belonging to the banned age group of 10-50 will be allowed to travel further from Nilackal and offer prayers at the shrine when it opens for the monthly pooja tomorrow (Wednesday) evening," asserted a woman protester as tempers ran high at Nilackal, the gateway to Sabarimala. A small police contingent looked the other way.
Television channels showed some college students, including young girls wearing black dresses, being ordered to get down a bus.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, facing a tough time tackling the highly emotive religious issue, which has also acquired political overtones issued a stern warning to those who dared to block devotees from entering the temple.
"We will ensure security to all. Nobody will be allowed to take law into their hands. My government will not allow any violence in the name of Sabarimala," he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram as followers of Lord Ayyappa virtually besieged Nilackal, about 225 km from the state capital.
"Stern action will be taken against anyone who prevents devotees from going to Sabarimala," he warned, and ruled out any rethink of his government's decision against seeking a review of the Supreme Court order. "We will go by what the Supreme Court says," he asserted.
Stalemate on The Travancore Devaswon Board (TDB), meanwhile, went into a huddle with stakeholders, including the Pandalam royal family representatives and priests, to soothe frayed tempers amid escalating protests by the Hindu right and common Ayyappa devotees.
There was, however, no breakthrough. The meeting also attended by Ayyappa Seva Samajam and Yoga Kshema Sabha ended in a deadlock as the TDB stuck to its stand of not filing a review petition. "It is very painful and we cannot agree. We wanted a decision on filing the review petition to be taken today (Tuesday) itself, but the board said it can be discussed only at the next meeting of TDB on October 19," Shashikumar Varma, a member of the Pandalam royal family said.
"All of us wish that Sabarimala should not be made a war zone," Varma, the president of Pandalam Royal Palace Trust, told journalists after walking out of the meeting in a huff. TDB president A. Padmakumar, however, dismissed suggestions that the meeting was a 'failure'. "What they (stakeholders) wanted was to file the review petition now itself. But the Supreme Court is closed till October 22. They also wanted to maintain the status quo on the customs and traditions. As the Supreme Court has passed a verdict, what can the board do? But the board will continue to talk with them to resolve the issue," Padmakumar said. He also said the October 19 meeting will take up the issue of the review petition.
