Sabarimala showdown: Bandh call evokes mixed reponse, violence reported from Thiruvananthapuram
The Sabarimala Karma Samithi has given a call for state wide bandh on Thursday in Kerala against the permission given to the women for entry into the temple.
The doors of Sabarimala temple in Kerala opened Wednesday for the first time after the historic judgement of the Supreme Court that lifted the centuries-old ban on entry of women of menstrual age. However, none of this age group could make it to the shrine on Wednesday as protesters opposed their entry. The Sabarimala Karma Samithi has given a call for state wide bandh on Thursday in Kerala against the permission given to the women for entry into the temple. The state has witnessed mixed response to the bandh call with violence reported from some pockets.
Here are highlights:
03:50 pm: Activist Rahul Easwar has been sent to police remand and is currently lodged in Kottarakkara sub jail. He was arrested yesterday from Nilakkal base camp & a non-bailable FIR was registered against him.
03:16 pm: Six BJP youth wing activists were arrested at Nilackal Thursday for staging a protest in violation of section 144 of the CrPC, which has been clamped in the area in view of violent demonstrations against allowing women in the menstruating age group inside the Sabarimala temple.
02:00 pm: Section 144 (prohibits assembly of more than 4 people in an area) has been imposed in Pampa, Nilakkal, Sannidhanam and Elavungal
01:30 pm: Situation is peaceful. There's no problem here. We've deployed sufficient police force in Pampa & Sannidhanam. There's no issue. Currently this (Section 144) has been imposed for 2 days, further decision will be taken as per situation: PB Nooh, Pathanamthitta Dist Collector
01:00 pm: All-Kerala Brahmins Association moves SC seeking review of verdict that allowed entry of women of all ages in #SabarimalaTemple.The plea says that the verdict suffers from several serious errors that have resulted in a “grave miscarriage of justice” for actual devotees of Ayyappa
11:45 am: We'll give protection to everybody going up. It's our job,to give protection to all pilgrims.We'll put more manpower&secure all routes.She(journalist Suhasini Raj reportedly working with New York Times)wasn't forced to come back, she came back: IGP Thiruvananthapuram range
09:20 am: Govt buses put on fire in Thiruvananthapuram, Mallapuram and Kozhikode
09:15: Bandh call evokes mixed response
09:10 am: After covering half the distance, Suhasini Raj decides to return
09:09 am: New York Times reporter Suhasini Raj who went for darshan under police protection faces opposition from protesters.
8:00 am: We demand an ordinance in this regard from both state as well as Centre, especially for SabrimalaTemple: Prayar Gopalakrishnan, Former Travancore Devaswom Board President at Sannidhanam Temple, Kerala
07:30 am: In some temples, there are rituals which must be followed strictly. Court is giving order for all women to enter but from last 50-70 yrs, no women b/w 10-50 yrs of age visited temple. It's our belief which we follow in Hinduism: A devotee
07:00 am: Many devottes call for respecting the entry of women in the themple
06:00 am: Pilgrims queue up at the Sabarimala temple
On Wedsnesday, women journalists were heckled, their vehicles smashed and young female Ayyappa devotees turned back as hordes of activists of Hindu fringe groups besieged the road leading to the temple, abode to Lord Ayyappa, its eternally celibate deity.
Chaos and mayhem on the road leading from Nilackal, the gateway to the shrine, 20 km away, to Pamba in the foothills from where the devotees start the arduous 6-km trek to Sabarimala reigned supreme, as activists of fought pitched battles with police, leaving many injured and bleeding.
The Pathanamthitta district authoriies promulgated prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC banning assembly of four or more people in strife-torn Pamba and Nilackal following the violence and a strike called by right wing outfits tomorrow.
Incensed over Kerala's Left Front government's decision not to file a review plea against the Supreme Court verdict, protesters pelted police with stones and the latter hit right back with vengeance wielding batons with telling effect, leaving many fallen and writhing in pain on the road.
Both the Congress, the main opposition party in Kerala, and the BJP, which is desperately seeking to expand its footprint in the state, have lent support to the agitation against the Supreme Court verdict.
State Congress working president K Sudhakaran led his party workers in a protest at Nilackal to express solidarity with Ayyappa devotees.
An embattled Left Front government reacted sharply to the protests, with the state's religious trusts minister Kadakampally Surendran calling them "politically motivated".
Watch: Women prevented from entering Sabarimala templevdespite SC ruling