Sabarimala row: When patriarchal tradition collides with desire for equality Read more at: http://www.sify.com/news/sabarimala-row-when-patriarchal-tradition-collides-with-desire-for-equality-news-columns-skypQlabbiggj.html

A policeman throws back a stone as they clash with protesters who tried to stop women of menstruating age from going to the Sabarimala temple at Nilackal, a base camp on way to the mountain shrine in Kerala, on Wednesday.   | Photo Credit: AP

Last week saw a spate of protests by those seeking to block women from entering the Sabarimala temple premises. Given the Supreme Court verdict on allowing women to enter the temple, protestors turned increasingly agitated as members of the media were threatened and intimidated while covering the events. Other women who had hoped to enter the temple were not allowed by protestors and were forced to turn back. #Kerala: Protests opposing the entry of women of all age groups in #SabarimalaTemple continue. Protesters say, "No woman between 10-50 years of age will enter here. We are protecting Sabarimala." ANI photos from Sannidhanam pic.twitter.com/PUytinrtRG — NDTV (@ndtv)  

 October 19, 2018 Various women including activists and journalists made the trek hoping to enter the temple. Suhasini Raj, a New York Times journalist was turned back and had to be escorted with police protection. Activist Rehana Fatima, tried to make her way to the temple, but was turned back. Her house was vandalized as she was on her way to the temple. Fatima, who works for BSNL will also face disciplinary measures from her employer in addition to being transferred to another branch. Journalist Kavita Jakkal who works with Mojo TV had to be escorted by police and another women devotee Mary Sweety also had to return midway Another example is that of Reshma Nishanth, a 32 year old teacher, who in a Facebook post wrote about her intent to visit the temple. Following that she received death threats due to which she resigned from her job. 

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the Sabarimala temple, stated that it was ready for a compromise to bring peace to the region. A Padmakumar, the President of the TDB who is also the ruling CPM party leader said in part, “The board will on Friday decide on moving a review petition in the Supreme Court. We do not want to see Sabarimala as a battlefield”. The Supreme Court said it will look at petitions filed by various people and groups hoping for a review of the verdict. This will be done on November 13 through a special bench headed by recently appointed Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. 

The state Finance Minister Thomas Issac however stated that the government would not file a review petition saying in part, “…the ruling party will launch an intense counter-campaign to expose the RSS and BJP”. The Times of India editorial stated that it is up to the Kerala government to uphold the verdict of the Supreme Court and not succumb to fear and intimidation – “While Kerala’s LDF government has maintained that it is committed to women’s rights and has resisted pressure to file a review petition in SC, it has not exactly been proactive. It has sought to open back channels with agitators, has not put in place special facilities for women that would make it easier for them to make the pilgrimage”. 

Sabarimala has a uniqueness that other temples lack; it allows entry for people of all faith. Sangh Parivar and RSS have always been intolerant of this fact. They have made many attempts to erase this distinction of Sabarimala. — Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) October 18, 2018 The backlash to the verdict was inevitable. In the judgment, then Chief Justice Dipak Misra ruled that the denial of menstruating women into the temple was unconstitutional calling it discrimination and “unfounded, indefensible and implausible but can also never pass the muster of constitutionality”. Justice Nariman said in part, “To exclude women of the age group 10-50 from the temple is to deny dignity to women”. 

The Times editorial puts this in context of the type of society that exists today – “That the only division which has persisted – and that too with all the force of a taboo – is that of gender, reveals the extent to which patriarchy is entrenched in Indian society. It is this patriarchy, and its ability to insinuate itself even in a modern context through dubious notions of ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’, that has now been struck a body blow”. The head priest at Sabarimala, Kandaru Rajeevaru, urged women in the age group of 10-50 to not come to Sabarimala as it would otherwise create problems and that he respected the verdict of the Supreme Court. He said in part, “…considering the sentiments of devotees and the tradition and rituals of the shrine, I humbly request you (young women) not to come to Sabarimala”. 

This was similar in tone to what the RSS said earlier this month, when they criticised the Kerala government for not taking into account the sentiments of the devotees in implementing the court order, saying in part, “These sentiments of the devotees cannot be ignored while considering the judgment”. The line on tradition is the single defence for those who oppose women’s entry into the temple. Particularly those between the ages of 10 and 50, considered to be impure due to menstruation. Poile Sengupta, novelist and playwright, in a column for The Wire writes about tradition in the context of why women should be allowed into the temple – “Tradition is not a high-security prison. It is a form of collective memory, sometimes documented, but often, as in India, not. Even if tradition has to be respected, norms do change. Allow women the freedom to walk a difficult, spiritual path; allow them that choice not when they are too immature to understand or so aged and possibly infirm that they do not have that choice at all”. For the basic act of women wanting to practice their faith is now a fight for basic equality; especially after the highest court in the land has called for that equality, in more ways than one. It goes back to age old and discriminatory thought that menstruating women would defile the premises of the temple if they enter. The former president of the TDB, Prayar Gopalakrishnan, said in 2016 that they would invent a machine to check the ‘purity’ of women devotees. The temple is now closed and will open later next month.

A demonstration in Kochi on Sunday in support of the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala entry.   | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Protests continue to rage over the entry of women of all ages into the ....

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