11 Tamil Women Devotees Fail to Have Sabarimala Darshan; Protesters in Custody

Sabarimala (Kerala): A group of 11 Tamil women devotees who wanted to have Sabarimala darshan on Sunday were forced to leave after protests turned violent and police took two dozen protesters into custody. The state unit of the BJP said what happened on Sunday was a CPI-M sponsored event and that the Kerala government should order a probe to find out who was behind the “conspiracy.” Led by Selvie, an activist belonging to the Maniti Women’s group in Tamil Nadu, the women from the hitherto “banned” age group were forced to leave Pamba for Madurai after Ayyappa devotees chased them away from ascending the hill.

The women aged between 10-50 years had reached Pamba town at 5.30 a.m. and were seen squatting for hours till 11 a.m. demanding police protection to ascend the hill. But traditional Ayyappa devotees also held fort and did not allow them to move forward. Reaching the base town at dawn, the group was parked on one side of the pathway leading to the temple while the protesters chanted slogans on the other side, determined not to allow passage to the women to go up. They kept sloganeering and menacingly approached the group threatening them to go away. It was then around 11.30 a.m. that Kerala Police was forced to take over 20 protesters into custody. Immediately hundreds of the others protesters came rushing down the pathway forcing the police and the Tamil women to flee to safety. The group was sheltered inside a police vehicle near Pamba as Superintendent of Police Karthikeyan explained the situation to Selvie’s group.

Later, after Karthikeyan told the media about the Tamil women’s decision to return to Madurai, Selvie said: “The police have asked us to return. So we are going back.”

They had faced the first hurdle when priests here refused to take part in the ritual that every Sabarimala pilgrim undergoes when they prepare the holy kit that is carried on the pilgrims’ head. The women then had to prepare their own holy kits. Sabarimala has been witnessing protests ever since September. (IANS)

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