On Wednesday, tensions were high in India as traditionalists tried to hinder women from visiting one of Hinduism’s most sacred temples. The Temple was surrounded by angry crowds opposed to female pilgrims, surrounding vehicles and intimidating journalists.
The Supreme Court in India last month lifted a ban on females aged between 10 and 50, that prevented them from entering and praying at the hilltop Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in the southern state of Kerala.
Traditionalists as well as supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were angered. Thousands protested in the days running-up to the scheduled opening on Wednesday afternoon.
Kerala’s state government said it would enforce the court ruling, deploying 500 extra police to ensure free access to the remote complex which is reached by an uphill trek that takes several hours.
At Nilackal, a base camp below the temple, police cleared protesters early Wednesday morning and arrested seven people who were stopping vehicles.
No one would be hindered from going to the Temple, police chief Manoj Abraham said.
“Stern action will be taken against anyone who prevents devotees from going to Sabarimala,” Kerala’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday.
Kerala has drafted in police to ensure the court ruling is respected
Police tried to clear protesters who are against allowing women into the site
Hindu devotees, many of them female, have protested in recent days against allowing women to pray in the Sabarimala temple
-AFP
