Even as the Supreme Court agreed to hear the review petitions against its verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple, Bhumata Brigade founder Trupti Desai wrote to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking security for her visit to the hill shrine.
Trupti, in her letter, has threatened not to leave the state until she, along with a delegation of six women, was allowed to enter the temple.
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The top court on Tuesday agreed to hear the review pleas against its verdict, in open court on January 22, but refused to stay the earlier order. The court's decision has put the Kerala government under immense pressure as the two-month long annual Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrim season commences on November 17.
“It may be noted that, unless we do not worship at the Sabarimala temple by entering into the sanctum sanctorum, we will not return without worshiping God. We would never leave Kerala,” she said in her letter.
Trupti urged the state government to arrange a vehicle for her delegation to go to the temple and bear the expenses of their stay as well. She said their fight is not against any religion or devotees, but for the right of gender equality.
A five-member Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on September 28 lifted the centuries-old ban on women of menstrual age from entering the shrine situated on the Western Ghats in Pathanamthitta district. The verdict has triggered widespread protests across Kerala with both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Pary rallying behind the devotees.
