Kerala has been rocked by violent protests by BJP-RSS and right-wing outfits after two women of menstruating age offered prayers at the Ayyappa temple on January 2. Several houses and shops of rival leaders and workers were attacked, some were bombed, over the Sabarimala issue.
 
The Nedumangad police in Thiruvananthapuram identified the person who threw bombs at the Nedumangad Police Station on Thursday, 3 January, during the state-wide hartal called by the Sabarimala Karma Samithi.
 
Praveen, an RSS district campaigner, was seen hurling bombs at the police station towards a group of policemen on CCTV footage. In the video, Praveen can be seen taking aim at the station and throwing multiple bombs that he was carrying in a bag.
 
The hartal on Thursday had been called to protest against the entry of two women in their forties, Bindu and Kanakadurga, who had entered Sabarimala temple early on Wednesday morning, as well as to mark the death of Sabarimala Karma Samithi worker Chandran Unnithan, who died in a stone-pelting incident in Pandalam, which took place over the women’s temple entry issue.
 
Praveen is identified as an RSS worker from Nooranad in Alappuzha. Nedumangad police station officials told The News Minute that he had gone into hiding after the incident took place, and has not been arrested yet. The police are also looking to identify any individuals who might have accompanied or assisted Praveen.
 
A clash between CPI (M) and BJP workers took place near Nedumangad police station as well, while violent protests were held in Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Kollam, Kasargode, Kannur, Vadakara, Mavelikkara and Thrissur.
 
The Vyapari Vyavasaaya Ekopana Samithi (VVES), a trade union of shopkeepers and traders, had initially decided to flout the hartal and keep shops open for business in most locations as part of their vow to not observe hartals in 2019. They were soon forced to shut down following the attacks of BJP-RSS protesters at those locations.
 
Over 1,300 cases were registered by the Kerala police in hartal-related violence all over the state, and over 3,187 people have been arrested so far.
 
Kannur district, which has been tense since the Wednesday hartal called by the Sabarimala Action Council, backed by the BJP, over the entry of women into Sabarimala, stayed tense with attacks and counter-attacks by cadres of the CPI(M) and the RSS.
 
On Thursday night, a bomb was hurled at the house of a local CPI(M) leader in Thalasery. The following night, a local leader of the DYFI, the youth outfit of the CPI(M), was stabbed at Iritty in Kannur district, allegedly by members of the RSS-BJP on Friday night.
 
Late Friday night, the houses of BJP Rajya Sabha member V Muraleedharan, BJP Kannur district secretary N Haridas and district-level RSS leader C Chandrasekharan were attacked. Bombs were also hurled at the houses of CPI(M) legislator A N Shamseer and former district secretary P Sasi. A local office of the RSS was set on fire at Cheruthazham in Kannur early Saturday morning.
 
State CM Pinarayi Vijayan said that the “State will deal with the RSS violence sternly.”
 
“They are trying to destroy the peace and tranquillity of the state. We will take strong action against it. It’s the RSS agenda to create fear in the minds of the people,” Vijayan told reporters, adding that it will not be allowed. He said people of the state have shown restraint.
 
“The RSS workers were attacking houses of MLAs, and other leaders. Their only aim and route is violence. The law and order system of the state will take care of it,” he said.
 
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged the state police had failed to maintain law and order.
 
“DGP himself has accepted this. Why has the government failed to stop the BJP from creating violence?” Chennithala asked.
 
“As violence continued to disrupt life in Kannur and other places, state police chief Loknath Behera sounded a state-wide alert and gave direction to take stern action against those responsible for attacks on houses of party leaders. According to Behara, 1286 cases have been registered till tonight and 3282 people arrested in connection with the violent incidents since the January 3 hartal called against the entry of two women into the hill temple. Of the arrested, 487 have been remanded and 2,795 granted bail,” Economic Times reported.
 

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Image: File Photo/REUTERS/Sivaram V

A library was set aflame in Palakkad in true fascist tradition; CPM offices are being attacked. Small public meetings called by independent feminists and human rights activists in major cities were attacked. In Calicut, activists suffered serious injuries while in Kochi, brave dalit feminists fought back three Hindutva women who sought to disrupt their meetings with Jai-Bhim slogans. The government announced its determination to hold firm against this unspeakable violence against the Malayali people as a whole — by this horde inspired by Indo-Gangetic barbarians who attack their neighbors for the sake of one among the lakhs and lakhs of Hindu deities.

The Sangh finally got the Balidaani they had sought so fervently — in Chandran Unnithan who died yesterday after being allegedly attacked by left supporters when he was participating in a protest against the entry of the two women.  This is no doubt unjustifiable, but several doubts are being raised about the circumstances of his death, especially about why he was not taken to the nearest medical institution equipped to handle his injury, the Pusphagiri Medical college. But the point really is that the responsibility for the situation lies partly with the Sangh, which instigated the violence, and that too, violence against the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment.

Reports from north Kerala suggest that while people are ready to defy this atrocious disruption of public life, the police seem reluctant and even complicit. In Calicut shop-keepers had vowed to open their shops in defiance; however, they now complain that the police seem to be reluctant not only to offer serious protection, but also to take action against miscreants who were caught by local people and handed over to them. Buses of the already-enervated KSRTC are being attacked by these goons. Of course, that was never new, and certainly those incidents, too, are unjustifiable. But what galls me is that these attacks are for a deity’s alleged celibacy, it has nothing to do with any issue that is currently of significance to Kerala’s people. In fact, such irresponsible and brainless protests render significant issues — issues on which we need to take the government to task, for example, the neglect of ecology in the planned post-flood reconstruction — invisible. Which only proves the point that these Indo-Gangetic barbarian-inspired fascists who lead the protests are no friends of Kerala in any sense. I do not see why the UAPA has not been used yet against these Hindutva terrorists? Is it reserved only for Muslims?

Today the need is to stand by the elements within the mainstream left that are committed to implementing the SC judgment even as the criticism of the hidden Hindutva elements in it — especially the Nair-Hindu male patriarchy represented by the Devaswam Minister Kadakampally Surendran — remains valid. The Chief Minister of Kerala is now widely and shamelessly defamed with casteist insults and threats to his life. Citizens need to rise up and fight this rot — in courts, homes, social media, and public spaces of all kinds.

I just walked about my part of town, just to prove a point. Life had clearly been disrupted. Thiruvananthapuram is infected particularly by the Sangh pestilence given the high concentration of sudras here. People there, clearly Sangh supporters, stared. Barely two days back, the streets were agog with preparations for the Women’s Wall organized by the CPM leadership in collaboration with the male leaders of  majorcaste- community organizations.  I could not help thinking: if only the CPM male leadership were less insecure, if only they had acknowledged the freedom – the Renaissance value that they now claim to be ready to hold aloft – of women in their fold and as a gesture of that shift, entrusted the women’s mass organization with the task of campaigning for the wall and bringing all of Kerala’s women, and the AIDWA took up that responsibility with verve, vigour, and democratic sensibilities towards others, then we would have probably seen them coming out in large numbers to celebrate the entry of Bindu and Kanaka into Sabarimala. Indeed, we do see them celebrating widely on Facebook, acknowledging this to be the critical act.

But no, what we saw as the Woman’s Wall was actually an affirmation of the modern patriarchy that shaped up in the early twentieth century social awakening, and what continues to be accepted as the unquestionable, normal horizon of gendered life within the mainstream left. And so I am not surprised that the spontaneous public celebrations of the entry were by the small groups of feminists and human rights activists. The Sangh found them easy targets to vent their ire.

If the AIDWA, which has an immense presence in Kerala had, instead, come out yesterday evening or today in large numbers, I am quite certain, no Sangh thug would have dared to raise a finger. That is really the reason why I keep saying, despite the fact that mine is a very lone voice today, that we should interpret the task of reclaiming ‘Renaissance’ values as not affirming once again the modern patriarchy that was shaped in those times (even if we pit it against the far-more barbarous traditional order, which is what the Sangh wants to reimpose). Rather, we need to acknowledge the inability of modern patriarchy which casts the man as the agent of reform, and the woman as the passive object of reform, to confront the Sangh’s intrusions effectively. And we need to draw on streams of anti-caste struggle of the 19th and 20th centuries that are not easily reducible to the terms of the modern patriarchy of the Navoddhana mainstream: specifically what I call stree-vaashi — she-intent- or resolve.

If the Woman’s Wall, however exciting it looked or felt, rested on the command of Reformer-Man, the entry of the two women was no doubt a manifestation of streevaashi – evidence that it runs in society still, like an underground stream that breaks out through the rocks at opportune moments.

There can be no doubt that the mainstream left needs to refurbish its hegemony desperately. At present, the refurbishment achieved in the 1990s through women’s entry into decentralization is in tatters. On the one hand, forces unleashed by precisely such refurbishment have eaten into the left’s foundations. The self-help culture fostered among poor women have kept them closely with the left at many crucial moments, but it has proved to be highly individualising; moreover, this culture is not immune to right-wing sensibilities at all, private and public.  The large passive-beneficiary-oriented welfare system is also not beyond replication or at least close imitation by the right-wing if it secures power. On the other, the rise of Hindutva majoritarianism in the national horizon makes it attractive to a great many men, especially subaltern men, whose masculine insecurities have been on the rise for many reasons. And so we have seen men move too easily between the CPM and the BJP, and indeed, share positions, especially on gender – especially on the right to command women in public space.

The way to renew the mainstream left’s hegemony, perhaps, is to open itself up to a critique of patriarchy in its structure and functioning and to bring in all women, subaltern men, and people of all other genders,  in large numbers — share power with them, defend their freedom, voice, equal rights, and agency. It is clear that only the left can take this path. In contrast, what the right cannot do is take the lead in establishing gender democracy given its deep embeddedness in regressive brahmanism. Again, the left can well acknowledge the force of the dalit and muslim critiques with no real loss to its self-understanding as left if it abandons short-sighted and dogmatic conceptions of itself. In short, the left could rebuild itself precisely by abandoning what it shares with the right.And this looks even more convincing to me in the wake of the relentless stream of casteist insults against the Chief Minister.

Comrade Vijayan, it is this streevaashi that we need to reclaim if we are to realize the dream of a Sangh-free and caste-free society in which women can claim equality and freedom. If in the 1990s the CPM bolstered its hegemony by inducting lakhs of women, however partially, into development, maybe now is the time to extend it further by acknowledging their freedom and independent agency, and more importantly, their critical abilities to expand the political imagination of the mainstream left?

You have been brave to support the women who entered the shrine. That is remarkable — as the proverb goes luck favours not the timid, but the brave. And extending the proverb, some have pointed out, only the prepared can really seize a chance. Prepare yourself by opening up to a critique of patriarchy and casteist exclusion, prepare yourself by acknowledging women’s inborn right to be free and equal.

Courtesy: Kafila.online

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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan addressed the media on Wednesday after two women entered Sabarimala temple and a hartal was called in the state.
 
The hartal, which began at 6 am, has been called by Sabarimala Karma Samithi and Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP). The BJP is supporting the shutdown while the Congress-led UDF is observing a “black day” on Thursday.
 
Blaming the Sangh for causing unrest to gain political points, the CM lashed out at them. “The decision to allow the entry of women into Sabarimala was pronounced by the Supreme Court. Based on that, arranging security for women was the responsibility of the government – it was a constitutional responsibility which the government fulfilled. But while the government took a stand, the Sangh Parivar has been consistently trying to make Sabarimala a spot of conflict. The government is trying to free Sabarimala from these kinds of conflicts,” the CM said.
 
Speaking about Bindu and Kanakadurga, the two women who entered the Sabarimala temple on Wednesday, the CM said, “We should note that they didn’t land in Sabarimala in a helicopter, but took the normal route that pilgrims do. They didn’t get any special consideration at the temple and had their darshan as other devotees do.”
 
Furthermore, he stressed that there was no protest from devotees.
 
“Other devotees provided them facilities, as the women have themselves said. The information about their darshan was made public after some time. But even hours after the information was released, there was no protest at all. It implies that there was no natural protest against them even from devotees,” he said.
 
He said the Sangh Parivar began creating tension and spreading chaos in a planned manner.
 
“Hence, what happened in the state was planned chaos. The cabinet also assessed the same (on Wednesday). The government can do nothing but strongly resist it. It won’t allow any kind of violence. It’s the fifth hartal the BJP is holding in the name of Sabarimala. The Sangh Parivar called for seven hartals in five months in related issues,” he added.
 
Lawyer Bindu and government employee Kanakadurga entered the Sabarimala temple in the early hours of Wednesday and offered their prayers – and were the first women to do so after the September 28 Supreme Court verdict that allowed women between the ages of 10 and 50 to enter the shrine. Following the entry of the two women, the temple was shut and ‘purification’ rituals were held.
 
Speaking about the Thantri’s decision to close the temple, the CM said, “The women went to the Sabarimala temple based on the SC verdict. We then witnessed something strange… the Thantri closing the temple. The court pronounced the judgement after hearing the Thantri’s version also. He was a party in the case. If he personally had difficulty in following the court judgement, he should have quit the post. It’s up to the Devaswom Board to decide on the temple’s affairs, so the Thantri’s act is a breach of the court’s judgement. The government is not stubborn that women should enter the temple, but was doing its best to arrange security for the women. It’s not a challenge against faith. We were acting as per the constitution.”
 
Reacting to claims that the government allowed the women to enter in the dark of the night, he said that it was their stand that women will be given police protection if they tried to enter. “The two women had come to visit the temple in the wee hours, hence they were allowed to enter at that time rather than asking them to wait. I didn’t know who these women were, only after the news came I realised that these were the women who climbed,” he said. He refuted allegations that it was a secret operation. “The government has no secret operations, everything is public,” he said.
 
He further said that the government would give protection to any more women who come desiring darshan. “The government will not step back an inch from providing security to women who may come to offer prayers. I am not a Chief Minister who is leading a movement to destroy faith. The government’s stand is to protect devotees,” he said.
 
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused an urgent hearing on Sabarimala temple issue. The apex court said it will take up the case on January 22 as scheduled. The petitioner sought initiation of contempt proceedings against the Sabarimala priest for purification of temple premises after two women entered the shrine.
 
Around 11 women tried to enter the temple before Bindu and Kanakadurga were successful.
 

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The Nair Service Society (NSS) is supporting the most destructive anti-women anti-Shudra Manuvad in the name of Sabarimala temple’s sanctity. The Nair men for centuries surrendered the Nair women’s self-respect to the Brahmin males in the worst Manuvadi system called Sambandam. The Brahmin men exploited the Nair women worse than the slave masters exploited the African American women for centuries. The Brahmin men procreated children in Sambandam and left them to their own fate.
 
The Nairs are considered to be Savarna in the Kerala society but they do not have any spiritual rights within the temple system. They are the fourth Varna called Shudra, who were slaves for a long time in history, right from the days of Rigveda. They cannot become priests and they cannot interpret the Hindu scriptures called Vedas and Bhagavad Gita. There are no Hindu theological schools, colleges that allow Nairs to study theology, leave alone the lower Shudras (who consider themselves as Avarnas in the Kerala context). Yet Nairs, particularly Nair men, after establishing the Nair Service Society (NSS), remain so backward that they almost live at the feet of Brahmins as spiritual slaves. Such a tendency of the Shudras has done great damage to the Shudra social and spiritual culture of equality.
 
This spiritual slavery of the NSS has come out very clearly on the event of the Ayyappa temple entry for women.
 
Ayyappa is a Shudra God like Beerappa of two Telugu states. Both Ayyappa and Beerappa have the Indo-African roots and they are the descendants of the famous Harappa in whose name the first city of the world was built at the Indus basin. After the Aryan migrants of the Brahmin ancestry invaded India and destroyed that civilization, several of Harappa’s descendants migrated to the South. Ayyappa, Beerappa (the shepherd Gods of Telugu region) and many others who bear such names like Veerappa, Mallappa and so on, must have migrated to the South and done great service to society. Hence, they became Godheads.
 
Thus, Ayyappa in his black dress represents the Shudra-Dravidian culture which has its roots in the Indo-African heritage against the Indo-Aryan Brahminic Vedic saffron dress code. There is no saffron dress code there. Ayyappa like Shirdi Sai Baba has become a secular Shudra God who is mostly visited by Shudra-Dalit devotees in black dresses.
 
The anti-women code of this Ayyappa God was imposed by the Namboothiri Brahmins only in the recent years when they took over the temple priesthood, as it was mobilizing huge finances. The Nair men are involved only in the temple management committee. The real pooja work is done by the Brahmin priests and they are the ones who wrote this code that women between 10 and 50 should not enter the temple. In fact, the Brahmin priest should be expelled from there and only the Shudras should perform the priestly functions.
 
No Shudra temple in the country has a norm where women’s entry is barred. In fact, many Shudra goddesses like Pochamma, Kali, Durga don’t follow man-woman segregation. All kinds of people visit these temples and Brahmins were never poojaris in those temples.
 
After the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) got strengthened, as it is a Brahmin headed organization, they started imposing Brahmin priests by displacing the Shudra priests in many Shudra temples. The Ayyappa temple is a classic example, how Brahmins took over this temple and women were denied of the right to enter, imposing the theory that menstruation blood is pollution. They do not consider male sexual discharge as pollution. This is mainly a Brahmin theory. This was never a Shudra theory.
 
The Shudra culture of India, which is the culture of majority people, does not believe in this theory of sexual discharge of female or male being spiritually pollutant. All productive communities world over never believed this kind of anti-production and procreational theories.
 
The Shudra belief is that female and male sexual discharges are sources of human birth. They are never the source of human death. Thus, woman’s menstrual blood is seen as sacred and source of human regeneration.
 
The Aryan Brahminism, which never involved in production believed that all production work is pollution. They never realized that ‘without mud, there cannot be food’. Food is produced only out of the mud. Hence mud is not anti-God as God himself or herself gets involved in all forms of production.
 
Today Mohan Bhagwat, the head priest from Nagpur, declared a war on the Supreme Court judgment of man-woman equality at Hindu temples. They actually want restrictions on women’s entry at all temples.
 
A Shudra productive community like Nair community joining hands with RSS Brahminism has caused historical damage to the Shudra values of India that were nurtured as egalitarian values from the days of Harappa. The equality battle at Ayyappa temple is going to be a battle between Shudraism and Brahminism.
 
The Shudras of India including Kammas, Reddys, Patels, Jats, Gujjars, Yadavs, Marathas, Kumbhis, Kurmis (of Bihar), Lingayats, Vakkalingas, Modaliyars, Nayakars and so on along with other OBCs must oppose the Brahmin conspiracy of taking back our women to pre-Independence status. All the OBCs in the reserved category must understand the conspiracy of these Brahmin-Bania forces from Delhi to Galli. They want to create conditions against equality which slowly will lead to taking away reservations.
 
Mohan Bhagwat is driving the country to see that all the Shudras/OBCs/Dalits/Adivasis do not even think about equality in the future.
 
The progressive Nairs, wherever they are, must force the leadership of the NSS to get out of this Brahmin trap. Otherwise, the poor agrarian productive Nairs will suffer hugely in the future. Particularly the Nair women must be saved from the danger of getting destroyed. The Army of Mohan Bhagwat will drive them to suicide once they start believing that their own bodies are full of pollution.
 
I call upon the progressive Nair women to save the great community women for whom I have great respect as they suffered more than any other Shudra women in Indian history.
 
Prof. Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd is Chairman T-MASS and political theorist. He is the Director, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad.
 

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Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times

In Kerala lower caste women were not allowed to cover their breasts. When reformers encouraged women to cover their breasts, caste Hindus tore off their dress. Kerala, one of the most casteist societies in the 19the century went through much protest and turmoil to gain respect for lower caste Hindus and women including temple entry and education. Every reformation was met with vehement violence from upper caste Hindus. It is through pitched battle with upper caste Hindus that Kerala gained its progressive status that it is enjoying right now.

Sabarimala temple entry for women of menstruating age is the last chapter in the fight against these casteistic forces. On September 28, 2018, the Supreme Court of India struck down a rule that disallowed girls and women in the 10-50 age group from entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. Chief Justice Dipak Misra-headed Constitution bench in a 4-1 verdict said the temple rule violated their right to equality and right to worship.

What followed was the coming together of casteistic forces against this historic and progressive verdict. Showing total disrespect to  the top court of India, casteistic forces led by RSS, Sangh Parivar organizations came forward to oppose the temple entry of young women. Pathetically, the congress party in Kerala too joined the casteistic forces in disallowing entry to young women.

Brahmin population in Kerala, the Kerala Namboothiris, are miniscule in population numbers. It is the shoodra Nairs who are significant in numbers in Kerala, but fast losing its influence in Kerala society, socially and economically and in numbers, that is at the forefront of this agitation with the support of fascist forces like RSS and Sangh Parivar organizations. All the lower caste organizations have dissociated from the agitation. It is only the shoodra Nairs now standing against a historic reformation in Kerala society.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has categorically stated that the government of Kerala will do everything in its capacity to enforce the supreme court verdict.

When the Sabarimala temple was opened for the monthly pooja yesterday, the protesters took to the street and unleashed violence. They prevented women devotees from entering the temple. They even attacked police who were protecting the devotees. Today, they prevented the New York Times reporter Suhasini Raj from entering the temple.

Today, the protesters have called for an all Kerala strike. As I type this they are unleashing violence across Kerala.  This is a last ditch battle by the casteistic forces supported by the fascist Sangh Parivar organizations to subvert the much celebrated Kerala renaissance.

Kerala government must not succumb to this archaic, revisionist, fascist forces. If the Kerala government has the courage it should appoint a lower caste priest at Sabarimala. That will break the back of casteistic forces forever.

Kerala is standing upon a turning point, if the government succumbs to the fascist forces, the casteistic forces will reassert itself in Kerala. If the government acts decisively, Kerala will take a step forward in annihilating caste, which Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar dreamt of so dearly.

Binu Mathew is the editor of www.countercurrents.org

Courtesy: www.countercurrents.org
 

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Tension mounted in Kerala on Wednesday, October 17, before the Sabarimala temple open its doors to women of all ages for the first time since the Supreme Court, on September 28, ruled that these women should be permitted to enter the temple. Police deployment was upped in the area, with police saying that 500 officers, including 100 women, were posted, Reuters reported. However, in spite of the Supreme Court’s verdict, LiveMint reported that several thousand protestors descended upon Nilakkal and Pamba, the temple’s two base camps within the 24 hours leading up to temple opening its doors. 

Inspector General of Police Manoj Abraham told Reuters, “Nobody will be allowed to prevent anybody. We will do everything possible to implement the law of the land,” adding, “None will be allowed to take law into their hands.” However, there were reports of women being barred entry. Madhavi, 40, of Andhra Pradesh, came with her family and was accompanied by the police until they reached near the shrine, NDTV reported, saying that the family claimed that the police then stopped, and asked them to go ahead on their own. The family had to eventually turn back, after being chased by protestors raising slogans. In another incident, The News Minute reported on Libi CS, a journalist and editor for a news website named Newsgil, was surrounded a crowd at the Pathanamthitta bus stand. Police surrounded her to protect her from the protestors, and The News Minute reported that the “confrontation appeared to be on the brink of violence, as several of the angry protesters pushed against the protective ring and attempted to take swipes at her or push her. But the police effectively kept them away from Libi, and the protective ring of officers escorted her to a police van, which drove away from the bus stand, presumably to Pamba.”

Women journalists attempting to cover the event were also targeted. The News Minute reported that its own reporter, Saritha S. Balan, “was on the bus to cover the Sabarimala protests, when it was ‘inspected’ by Karma Samithi. Saritha was intimidated by the mob and violently physically attacked and verbally abused.” Saritha said, “I have no intention of entering the temple, I am only here to cover the protests. This should have been clear from my attire — I’m wearing jeans and a kurta. Then how can they claim I was trying to enter the temple in the guise of a devotee?” adding, “If they did not want reporters to cover the protest, why did the BJP invite the media for coverage?” ANI reported that India Today journalist Mausumi Singh and her crew were attacked at Nilakkal. India Today subsequently reported that the National Commission on Women (NCW) had taken cognisance of the attack on Singh. Pooja Prasanna of Republic TV was also targeted; Republic TV tweeted, “Mob of 100 smash car, attack Republic TV’s South India bureau chief Pooja Prasanna”. “The mob of anti-women Sabarimala protesters had snatched batons from the police and attacked the television crew,” NDTV reported, saying that its own reporter Sneha Mary Koshy and cameraperson SP Babu were heckled and told to leave, and that their camera was snatched. NDTV said that CNN-News18 and Aaj Tak personnel were also targeted. The situation escalated, with protesters turning violent, prompting lathi-charge by the police, News18 reported. India Today reported on Wednesday evening that Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed in certain areas around Sabarimala, with the temple remaining open until 10.30pm. 

Scroll reported that on Tuesday, in spite of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying that the government would not permit vehicles being checked for women heading to Sabarimala, “vehicle checking continued unabated.” Scroll reported that police officials on duty on Tuesday did nothing to bar groups of people from “flagging down cars and buses to check if they had any women passengers.” Nilakkal resident Satyabhama who was among those who checked a bus travelling to Pamba told Scroll correspondent TA Ameerudheen “that she would sacrifice her life to protect the sanctity of Sabarimala. ‘Lord Ayyappa would become angry if menstruating women entered the Sannidhanam [temple],’ she said. ‘As the natives of Nilakkal we will stop anyone who tries to break the custom and traditions.'” On Tuesday, Ratnamma, 60, an Adivasi woman working at the Nilakkal Estate of the Travancore Devaswom Board attempted suicide, The New Indian Express reported, saying that a police officer’s intervention saved her life. 

On September 28, the five-judge Constitution Bench of India’s top court, headed by now former Chief Justice Dipak Misra, ruled that women of all ages could enter the Sabarimala temple. Misra said, “Patriarchal rules have to change. Patriarchy in religion cannot be allowed to trump right to pray and practise religion“. Justice Indu Malhotra wrote a dissenting opinion in the case, saying, “Issues of deep religious sentiments should not be ordinarily be interfered by the court. The Sabarimala shrine and the deity is protected by Article 25 of the Constitution of India and the religious practices cannot be solely tested on the basis of Article 14.” 

The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has issued a statement saying that it “strongly condemns the efforts of BJP-RSS backed right wing groups to create a communal frenzy against the implementation of the orders of the Honourable Supreme Court in the Sabarimala Case,” noting that “Some RSS-BJP leaders have even threatened to molest and “cut into two” the women who will enter the Sabarimala temple to worship the deity.” The organisation said it “stands strongly against the political parties like the BJP and the Congress and reactionary forces like the RSS that are trying to subvert the progressive Sabarimala judgment,” and called for the arrest “of all BJP-RSS leaders and supporters who are issuing open threats to women and women activists and trying to disturb the atmosphere of peace and harmony that has been fostered by the Left movement.”

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