Midnight protests at Sabarimala temple
Sabarimala, Nov 19 (IBNS): The police have detained 70 people for flouting prohibitory orders outside the Sabarimala temple in Kerala on late Sunday night.
Protests have erupted across the state on Monday against the detention of 70 people.
Protesters organised hymn chanting during sit-ins before police stations and outside chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s official residence, the Cliff House, in Thiruvananthapuram, reported Hindustan Times.
According to reports, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, is scheduled to organize day-long protest in the state.
KP Sasikala, a right-wing leader who was at the forefront of the protests and arrested last week, was released on Saturday and she is scheduled to visit the temple on Monday, reports said.
The temple reopened on Saturday.
This was the third time the temple opened in recent times.
The temple has been opened for the two-month pilgrim period.
SC verdict and review:
In a major move, the Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to review in open court its own order that had ended Sabarimala Temple's ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.
The court will now hear several petitions that have challenged the order, reports said.
A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Sept 28 had lifted the ban on women's entry into the Sabarimala temple declaring the relevant rules as unconstitutional.
Following the top court's verdict, the shrine opened on Oct 18 for the first time allowing menstruating women, belonging to the age group of 10 to 50, to enter the temple.
However, several men and women had protested outside the temple, and tried to prevent the entry of women in the shrine. The temple was closed after five-day puja.
Menstruating women were earlier banned from entering the temple for centuries as a part of the religious practice.
Two women- an activist and a journalist- had attempted to enter the Temple.
However, they returned without entering the shrine.
The two women turned back after the priest threatened to shut the temple if they don't go back.
Protests had rocked the state in recent times over the verdict with demonstrators not supporting the order of allowing women aged between 10 and 50 from entering the temple.
The temple again reopened for Sree Chithira Attathirunal pooja recently. No violence was reported that time.
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