Breaking the tradition that prevented women of the menstruating age from entering, Bindu Ammini (42) and Kanakadurga (44) were the first women to enter the Sabarimala temple yesterday since the Supreme Court verdict of September. The Supreme Court had overturned the ban on women of the menstruating age – between 10 and 50 years – from entering the Sabarimala shrine.
The two women are currently said to be in a safe location under police protection as it can well be assumed that their lives are under threat. Kerala has been on the boil since news spread that the two women managed to enter the shrine early on Wednesday and offered prayers. Clashes broke out in several parts of the state on the issue.
According to a report in thenewsminute.com, Bindu Ammini is a lawyer and teaches at the School of Legal Studies, Kannaur University. A student activist in her younger days, Bindu was a member of the Leftist Kerala Vidyarthi Sangathana and was later associated with the CPI (ML). Her husband Hariharan is a lecturer. However, she has no connection with the party anymore.
Kanakadurga is a 44-year old employee with the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation from Angadipuram in Malappuram.
The two women reportedly came across each other on a Facebook page which discussed the subject of women who wanted to go to Sabarimala.
The two women then met and tried to go to the temple for the first time on December 24, but were stopped on the way by protesters. Since then, not much is known about what they were doing and whether they were going to try to go to Sabarimala again. In fact, one of the women’s house was also attacked.
The two women reached Sabarimala at around 3.30 am on Wednesday. According to reports, one of the women said that they had reached Pamba and informed police about their arrival and subsequently faced no protests from devotees.
This morning, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan confirmed this. He said that the two women had faced no opposition from the devotees. This is also significant in the light of the large-scale protests – primarily led by political parties – on the women’s entry in Sabarimala. In fact, Vijayan, at a press conference earlier today said that the devotees themselves helped these two women.
One person died after being injured in clashes between activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s youth wing and the ruling CPI(M) that took place last evening. The temple shut down for a “purification” process and clashes broke out in several parts of the state as news of the two women entering Sabarimala spread.
Both the Congress and the BJP are against the entry of women into Sabarimala. A shutdown called in protest by the Sabarimala Karma Samithi, is being supported by the BJP, while the Congress-led alliance of the UDF is also observing a “black day” today.
Even journalists reporting from outside the Kerala secretariat at Thiruvananthapuram were not spared. They were allegedly attacked by the BJP’s youth wing activists.
[Cover photograph of Bindu and Kanaka Durga after their first attempt to enter Sabarimala on December 24. Courtesy: New Indian Express]
