Sabarimala Row: Two women stop just short of making history

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Sabarimala: The attempt by the Kerala police to take two women to Lord Ayyappa temple in the light of the Supreme Court verdict has given a fresh impetus to devotees and Hindu outfits which are protesting against the implementation of the judgment. The protestors have viewed it as part of the Communist-led government’s agenda to destroy the temple, thronged by millions of devotees from all over the country and abroad. They suspect such a motive because none of the women were genuine devotees of Lord Ayyappa.

While one, Kavitha Jakkal, was a journalist from Andhra Pradesh who had sought police protection to visit the temple in line of duty, the other, Rehana Fathima, was a Muslim women’s activist who had hit media headlines by taking off the hijab and posing naked with watermelons to espouse gender equality.

Neither of them had come to Sabarimala by observing the customary 41-day ”vrutha” (penance) that genuine devotees do for climbing the 18 holy steps leading to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. A 100-member police team led by Inspector General of Police S Sreejith escorted the two women, that too in riot protection gear, up to Nadapanthal, which is 100 meters away from the temple.

The drama provoked the devotees present on the temple premises. About 200 devotees, who had gone to the temple for the monthly puja, created a human shield, forcing the police to drop the move to take them to the temple. The women were not willing to return, initially. They relented after they realized the threat to not only their lives but also to that of their family members.

The two told media persons on their return at Pampa, the gateway to the temple, that they did not want to jeopardise the lives of their children. Kavitha said she will come again when the situation is congenial for women of menstruating age to enter the temple.  The enthusiasm shown by the police in taking the women to the temple at any cost evoked protests not only from the devotees and Hindu groups resisting the entry of women but also a section of the government.

Devaswom Minister Kadkampally Surendran came down heavily on the police saying that they had no business to take the women to the temple.  “Sabarimala is not a place for activists to pursue their cause. The police should have been cautious while deciding to take them to the temple. When the government decided to implement the SC verdict we intended only to facilitate those who wanted to go to the temple. We had no plan to take women to the shrine,” he told a press conference amid the standoff at Sabarimala.

The priests at the temple also took a strong stand against the police move. They climbed down the holy steps and staged a sit-in. The Thantri threatened to shut the temple and leave Sabarimala if the women from the banned age group made their way to the sanctum sanctorum.