NEW DELHI: A new standoff between Hindu traditionalists and Indian police over a flashpoint shrine is looming next week, with 560 women reportedly registering to visit the side when it reopens on November 17.
India’s Supreme Court in September ruled that all females should be allowed into the Sabarimala hilltop temple in the southern state of Kerala, and not just those under 10 or over 50 as before.
But when the temple reopened in mid-October, a handful of women who wanted to go were prevented by hard-liners, who also threw stones at police and assaulted journalists.
Police later detained around 2,000 people. The protesters’ anger reflected an old but still prevalent view in some areas of India that connects menstruation with impurity.
The temple opens again on November 17 for a Hindu festival period lasting 41 days, and some 300,000 people have registrated to visit — including some 560 woman, media reports said.
Police said that several thousand extra officers would be deployed and that tighter restrictions will be in place in an attempt to avoid clashes.
“Now, private vehicles will only be able to get to Nilackal, the first base camp, after getting prior passes (permission) from the local police,” Pramod Kumar, Kerala police spokesman told AFP.
The people will have to board government buses from there to Pamba, the next base camp around 20 kilometers (12 miles) away, before they start their on-foot climb to the top of the hill.
The Hindu daily said that Kerala police are considering using a military helicopter to take women to the hilltop site. In October women could not even begin ascending because of the protests.
Before the re-opening, on Tuesday the Supreme Court is due to hear review challenges against its earlier verdict. More than a dozen complaints have been filed.
560 woman register to enter flashpoint Indian temple
560 woman register to enter flashpoint Indian temple
- India’s Supreme Court in September ruled that all females should be allowed into the Sabarimala hilltop temple in the southern state of Kerala
- The temple opens again on November 17 for a Hindu festival period lasting 41 days
Protesters try to attack driver after truck speeds through anti-Iran demonstration in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with marchers demonstrating in support of the Iranian people, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver.
The U-Haul truck, with its side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars. ABC7 news helicopter footage showed officers keeping the crowd at bay as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and thrusting flagpoles through the driver’s side window.
The police department confirmed its officers were on the scene but didn’t immediately say if anyone was arrested.
Two people were evaluated by paramedics and both declined treatment, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Several hundred people had gathered Sunday afternoon in the Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian theocracy. The LA police department eventually issued a dispersal order, and by 5 p.m. only about a hundred protesters were still at the scene, ABC7 reported.
Activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Protesters flooded the streets in Iran’s capital of Tehran and its second-largest city again Sunday.
