NEW DELHI: Dozens of Hindu priests on Friday joined conservative protesters to block women of menstruating age from one of the world’s largest Hindu pilgrimage sites, defying a ruling from India’s top court to let them enter.
The priests threatened to stop rituals and prayers in hillock Sabarimala temple in southern Kerala state if women ages 10-50 tried to enter the shrine.
“We have decided to lock the temple and hand over the keys and leave. I stand with the devotees. I do not have any other option” said Kandararu Rajeevaru, the head priest of Sabarimala temple.
Two young women, a journalist and an activist, were forced to turn back after they had reached the temple precincts under a heavy police escort.
Kadakampalli Surendran, a Kerala state minister, said the temple was not a place for activism and to prove a point and the government was not responsible for providing security to activists.
The minister’s statement came despite the state government, run by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), vowing to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Hundreds of protesters have blocked the entry of women of menstruating age since the temple reopened on Wednesday after the Supreme Court’s ruling three weeks ago holding that equality is supreme irrespective of age and gender.
The temple will remain open for five-day monthly prayers until Oct. 22.
Protesters vowed to file a petition with the Supreme Court next week seeking a review of its ruling of Sept. 28 allowing all women entry into the temple. They say the celibacy of the temple’s presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, is protected by India’s Constitution, and that women of all ages can worship at other Hindu temples. Some Hindu figures consider menstruating women to be impure.
The entry of females between the ages of 10 and 50 to the centuries-old temple was banned informally for many years, and then by law in 1972.
In 1991, the Kerala High Court confirmed the ban. India’s Supreme Court lifted the ban last month, holding that equality is supreme irrespective of age and gender.
Indian temple priests turn back women, defying court ruling
Indian temple priests turn back women, defying court ruling
- The entry of females between the ages of 10 and 50 to the centuries-old temple was banned informally for many years, and then by law in 1972
Russian drone attack forces power cuts in Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih, military says
- Kyiv says the campaign has forced rolling outages and emergency cuts to cities across the country, as repair crews work under fire and Ukraine relies on air defenses and electricity imports to stabilize the grid
KYIV: Russian drones struck infrastructure in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday, forcing emergency power blackouts for more than 45,000 customers and disrupting heat supplies, military administration head Oleksandr Vilkul said.
“Please fill up on water and charge your devices, if you have the chance. It’s going to be difficult,” Vilkul said on the Telegram messaging app.
Water utility pumping stations switched to generators and water remained in the system, but there could be pressure problems.
The full scale of the attack was not immediately known. There was no comment from Russia about the strike.
Russia has repeatedly struck Ukraine’s power plants, substations and transmission lines with missiles and drones, seeking to knock out electricity and heating and hinder industry during the nearly four-year war.
Kyiv says the campaign has forced rolling outages and emergency cuts to cities across the country, as repair crews work under fire and Ukraine relies on air defenses and electricity imports to stabilize the grid.
Kryvyi Rih, a steel-and-mining hub in the Dnipropetrovsk region and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, has been hit repeatedly, with strikes killing civilians and damaging homes and industry.
The city sits close enough to southern front lines to be within strike range, while its factories, logistics links and workforce make it economically important and a key rear-area center supporting Ukraine’s war effort.
