Sabarimala women entry: Standoff at shrine; minister calls two women 'activists not devotees'

After two days of protests and police crackdowns, the Sabarimala row intensified on Thursday after a standoff between the police and a section of devotees at the entry of the shrine. A squad, led by IG S. Sreejith, was escorting a woman journalist—Kavitha Jakkala from Hyderabad—and an activist from Kochi, were greeted by an irate mob at sannidhanam. “We are only following the law. I will be discussing with the higher authorities and brief them on the situation,” IG Sreejith told the assembled devotees. The women had reached Pamba on Thursday, but began the ascent only on Friday morning citing security concerns, reported The News Minute.

Meanwhile, the ruling CPI(M), which had assured women devotees protection, was clearly caught on the wrong foot. Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran called the two women activists and not devotees. "Sabarimala is not the place for activists to show their strength," he said, reported Manoramaonline. On the other hand, Manorama News reported that miscreants attacked the Kochi home of one of the women attempting to enter the temple. 

The journalist is reportedly in her late 20s. If they managed to climb the hills, they would be the first from the menstruating age group to visit the Sabarimala temple of Lord Ayyappa after the Supreme Court order permitting women of all age groups to enter the shrine.

On Thursday, the New Delhi-based woman journalist was stopped midway by devotees opposing the entry of women of menstrual age into the hill shrine.

The journalist accompanied by her male colleague, a foreigner, descended the hills from Marakkoottam area in the face of mounting protests.

A case has been registered against devotees who allegedly prevented her trekking and forced her to climb down the hills. 

Even as the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala opened for the the five-day monthly poojas for the Malayalam month of Thulam on Wednesday evening, protests intensified against the Supreme Court verdict.

Nilakkal and Pamba, the two major base camps of Sabarimala pilgrimage, witnessed violent protests after the agitators pelted stones at police personnel and vehicles, including state transport buses carrying devotees. Police beat the protesters to disperse them, several of whom ran helter-skelter and entered the nearby forest area. Three policemen and five protesters have been seriously injured.