English
New Delhi: Women’s rights activist Trupti Desai, who is expected to visit the Sabarimala temple on Sunday , lambasted the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government after 10 women of the ‘barred’ age group were not allowed to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa shrine on the day 1 of the annual Mandala-Makaravilakku puja.
She also accused the Vijayan government of suppressing the voice of women. “The state government is clearly trying to suppress the voice of women but other women and activists won’t tolerate this at all. We will visit the templeand we won’t come back before stepping into the temple,” Desai said.
Furthermore, the activist asserted that god doesn’t “discriminate” between his devotees so the government should also allow women and men of all age groups to visit the temple.
“If the police and government are sending back women from Pamba, then I believe this is an insult to the rights of women and the Supreme Court’s order as well. The government is working totally against women. The Supreme Court should also take some action against the government,” said the activist.
Earlier on Saturday, the recent Supreme Court decision to allow women of all ages inside the Sabarimala temple failed to be a reality as 10 women of the ‘barred’ age group were not allowed to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa shrine. Reports claimed that the police personnel did not let the women to trek up to the temple from Pamba base camp, which is at the foothills of Sabarimala, about 5 km from the shrine.
Notably, the temple tradition disallows women in the age group of 10 to 50 years to enter the temple precinct but a bench of Supreme Court headed by the the outgoing CJI Ranjan Gogoi had made it clear that it has not stayed the September 28, 2018 order allowing women to offer prayers at the shrine.
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