Thiruvananthapuram, India – Twin arson and bomb attacks rocked southernIndia Saturday, continuing a violent backlash that followed the entry oftwo women into a Hindu temple that forbids female devotees.
The Sabarimala temple in Kerala state has been at the centre of a prolongedshowdown between religious hardliners and authorities since September, whenIndia’s top court overturned a ban on women aged 10 to 50 setting footinside.
Police said unidentified attackers hurled a homemade bomb at the home of apolitician from the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and set ablazethe office of its Hindu nationalist parent group Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS).
Both are opposed to the court’s order to allow women inside the temple. Noinjuries were reported, police said.
The fresh attacks came hours after unknown attackers bombed the house of apolitician linked to the state’s ruling Communist Party, which has vowed toimplement the court order.
One person has died and more than 270 others have been injured sinceWednesday, when thousands protested after two women devotees in their 40sprayed inside the temple.
The two local women had become the first to access the shrine since thelandmark verdict and months-long of siege by Hindu hardliners that forceddozens of women devotees to retreat from the gold-plated hilltop temple.
A third woman from Sri Lanka said she entered the temple on Thursday nightbut this was disputed by the temple authorities, who performed a”purification” ritual after the two other women made their way into theshrine.
More than 3,000 protesters have either been arrested or taken intopreventive custody after multiple clashes between police and demonstrators.
Read Top Stories
Kerala has a history of political violence between Hindu and theleft-leaning parties but tensions in the region have escalated since thewomen entered the temple on January 2.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a member of the BJP, joined calls by hisparty and the RSS for a statewide shutdown to protest the women’s entrance.
Modi’s party accuses the state government of backing “anti-religious”groups to violate Hindu traditions.
The Communist Party has accused the BJP and RSS of inciting violence in thestate.
Women are barred from a handful of Hindu temples in India, includingSabarimala, where it was considered a taboo for centuries before the banwas given legal force by Kerala High Court in 1991.
But the Supreme Court in a landmark judgement in September overturned theKerala court’s ruling after six women lawyers petitioned it in 2006,challenging a ban they said violated their fundamental rights. – APP/AFP
