The Sabarimala temple in Kerala is scheduled to open at 5 pm on Saturday for its annual pilgrimage season, two days after the Supreme Court referred the review petitions on the entry of women of all ages into the temple to a seven-judge constitutional bench.
Security has been beefed up in the area, with over 10,000 police personnel deployed. However, interestingly, the state government has said that it will not protect women’s rights activists who plan to visit the Sabarimala temple.
The ban on women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple has become a major political issue in the state and beyond. The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) had earlier supported the entry of women when, in September 2018, a five-judge constitution bench had allowed women of all ages to enter the temple. However, this had led to massive protests all over the state and only a few women were able to enter. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had opposed the entry of women.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, a five-judge constitution bench gave a 3:2 verdict stating that a seven-judge bench should review the matter.
The Kerala Devaswom Board minister Kadakampally Surendran was quoted in various reports saying that the shrine was not a place for activism and those who wanted protection for visiting the temple must get a court order. The state’s law minister AK Balan was quoted saying that the government will approach legal experts on the “confusions” in the court order. Since the earlier order has not been stayed but no specific decision had been mentioned, he felt that there was such a confusion.
According to a CPI-M leader quoted in reports but who had not been named, the secretariat felt that it was best to not allow women to enter the temple till the final order of the apex court comes.
Meanwhile, there are reports of 45 women of the menstrual age to have made online bookings to enter the temple this year.
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