A thick security cover has been put in place by police around Lord Ayyappa temple as it set to open for a day on Monday for a special puja. Orders banning assembly of four or more people have been imposed in Sabarimala and nearby areas after violent protests were witnessed last month against the entry of women of menstrual age into the famed shrine. As many as 2,300 Kerala Police personnel have been deployed, including a 20-member commando team and 100 women, who will ensure smooth 'darshan' and security of devotees, a move that came in for criticism from the erstwhile royal family of Pandalam, the BJP and the Congress for such fortification.
When the temple opened for monthly puja for five days last month, first time after the court order, women reporters, on their way to cover the occasion, were heckled, their vehicles attacked and young female devotees forced to turn back as protesters, including activists of Hindu fringe groups, laid a siege to the road leading to Sabarimala.
The pilgrims will be allowed to go up the pathway only on Monday afternoon, an official said. The temple opens its door at 5 p.m. and closes on Tuesday at 10 p.m. Pathanamthitta District Collector P.B. Nooh has declared prohibitory orders in and around the temple town banning the gathering of four or more persons to foil street protests. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and numerous Hindu groups are up in arms against the September 28 verdict of the Supreme Court that allowed women of all age groups to enter the temple. The Kerala government has said it will implement the ruling, pitting it against the protesters. All the roads leading from Nilackal to the base camp of the temple town Pamba are barricaded and have been declared out of bounds till Monday morning by the police. The police are checking each and every vehicle that passes in and around the temple town. On Sunday, after protests, the police allowed the media to travel till Nilackal.
Don't depute young women journos to Sabarimala: Hindu outfits write to media houses
Several Hindu outfits in Kerala agitating against entry of women of menstrual age into the famous Sabarimala Temple have urged media outlets not to depute women journalists to cover the issue. The 'appeal' was issued by Sabarimala Karma Samiti, a joint platform of right wing outfits, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Hindu Aikyavedi, ahead of the temple's brief opening, which will be the second time after the Supreme Court allowed entry of girls and women in the age group of 10-50 into it.
The samiti has been spearheading the agitation against the apex court order lifting an age-old ban on entry of women in menstrual age group into the temple, whose deity Lord Ayyappa is a celibate.
In its letter to editors, a copy of which was released to the media, the samiti said even the entry of women journalists belonging to this age group as part of their job was also likely to aggravate the situation.
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