As the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala is set to open for a special pooja on November 5, the district administration has imposed Section 144 in Pamba, Elavunkal, Nilakkal and Sannidhanam from Saturday midnight. Security has been beefed up in these areas in the wake of possible protests by Hindu outfits and devotees against the state government's decision to implement the Supreme Court order allowing women of all ages to enter the shrine.
As many as 1,200 police personnel, including two IGs, five SPs and 10 DySPs will be deployed at Sannidhanam, Pamba and Nilakkal from Saturday as the temple opens for Chithira Attathirunal pooja. Both Pamba and Nilakkal are the base camps of the Sabarimala pilgrimage.
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Pathanamthitta SP T. Narayanan had said that the police would provide security if any woman came to trek the hill.
The top court, in a historical verdict on September 28, had struck down a centuries-old tradition banning women of menstrual age from entering the shrine, sparking widespread protests across the state. The CPI(M)-led state government has, however, maintained that it was constitutionally bound to implement the court order.
The shrine situated in the Western Ghats had witnessed high drama after around a dozen women in the 10-50 age group were prevented by protesting devotees from entering it after the temple doors were opened for monthly poojas between October 17 and 22.
Various Hindu outfits, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Nair Service Society, had on Thursday decided to step up their protests against the apex court order. While the Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to begin a rathyathra from Kasaragod to Pamba, the Congress party has asserted that it would rally behind the devotees.
Meanwhile, an office of the NSS in Nemom near Thiruvananthapuram was vandalised early Friday. A wreath with the name of NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair on it was left behind by the miscreants, police said.
In another incident, suspected Maoists pasted posters in tribal hamlet Attappady in Palakkad, supporting the entry of women of all age groups into Sabarimala. Police said at least five to six posters, urging to "defeat" the "fascist" forces, appeared in the mountain road area.
With inputs from agencies
