Thiruvananthapuram – Violence erupted in southern India on Wednesday aftertwo women defied traditionalists to enter one of Hinduism’s holiest templesfor the first time since a landmark court ruling.
Police fired tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon as protests andclashes between rival groups erupted across the southern state of Kerala,local media reported. Several officers were reportedly injured.
The Supreme Court in September overturned a decades-old ban on women ofmenstruating age — deemed as those between 10 and 50 — setting footinside the gold-plated Sabarimala temple.
In recent weeks Hindu traditionalists — backed by Prime Minister NarendraModi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — have prevented attempts by women toaccess the hilltop site, with some hardliners turning violent.
But in a surprise pre-dawn operation on Wednesday heralded by activistsbut enraging conservative devotees, police enabled two women to penetratethe hilltop temple and then leave again undetected, officials confirmed.
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Video images showed the 42-year-old women, Kanaka Durga and Bindu, who hasonly one name, wearing black tunics with their heads bowed as they rushedin.
“We did not enter the shrine by climbing the 18 holy steps but wentthrough the staff gate,” one of the women, who both remained under policeguard on Wednesday, later told reporters.
Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said: “It is a fact that thewomen entered the shrine. Police are bound to offer protection to anyonewanting to worship at the shrine.” – APP/AFP
