Picture of woman cameraperson who was 'attacked' by Sabarimala protesters goes viral on internet, netizens praise her

The picture of the cameraperson has gone viral on the social media.

Who is the cameraperson:

The woman cameraperson, who has earned appreciations from netizens for her act of bravery, is Shajila Abdulrahman. She works for Kairali TV. 

She could be seen in the image dedicatedly doing her duty with the camera in her hand while tears are seen rolling down her face.

She was filming despite receiving 'blows' from the protesters in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram city during the shutdown on Thursday.

According to reports, protesters even tried to snatch away her camera.

"I was not crying out of fear. I was in tears because of helplessness," Shajila told NDTV.

"What could I do if five-six people come from the back, snatch my camera, hit me and push me down? How do I retaliate? I was crying because I realised I lost precious visuals and time to shoot, as I had to get back my camera, plug in the batteries and restart the camera. I didn't want people to see my pain, and that's why I tried to hide my face with the camera," she said.

One Hilal tweeted: "Massive respect for this brave journalist
#Shajila_Ali_Fatima."

Another Khusboo said: " Photojournalist Shajila was heckled, abused and threatened with dire consequences but her camera had kept rolling. I can't call those assaulters & criminals as devotees of Lord Ayyappa. My Hinduism doesn't allows any kind of violence with anybody. #Sabarimala #IStandWithShajila."

Another Iqbal Hussain said: " The day nation remembering #SavitribaiPhule at the same time Shajila Ali Fathim emerged as the modern day phule & Fatima shaik by fighting the forces who feels that the women is impure. "

Two women create history:

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the two women in their mid 40s entered the shrine on Wednesday with police protection, media reports said.

Video footage of the incident, where two women could be seen entering the temple, has gone viral on social media.

The women reportedly reached the temple around 3:45 am.

According to some media reports, these two women have been identified as activists Bindhu and Kanakadurga. They have been hiding since then.

After the women's entry,  the temple was closed for "purification rituals", a move that was slammed by various outfits saying it was practising untouchability.

Why is the controversy?

On Sept 28, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had lifted the ban on women's entry into the Sabarimala temple declaring the relevant rules as unconstitutional.

For centuries, menstruating women had been banned from entering the temple in devotion to Lord Ayyappa.   

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.

Congress, BJP on same page:

With the elections round the corner and the emergence of BJP in the state, the Congress is singing in the tune of the saffron party in Kerala.

Though Congress president Rahul Gandhi last year urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rise above politics by lending an unconditional support to the BJP in the Lok Sabha on women's reservation bill, the Sabarimala issue has exposed a different stand of the country's oldest party.

On Thursday, when the BJP supported a statewide shutdown called by right-wing organisations, the Congress observed a "black-day" in Kerala, apparently remaining in the same page with BJP on the issue of women's entry in Sabarimala.

Protests break out after women's entry:

Kerala was on an edge as several protests broke out after the two women's entry into Sabarimala temple on Wednesday. On Thursday, three BJP women were reportedly stabbed in a clash in Thrissur.

Chandran Unnithan (55), Sabarimala Karma Samithi activist, who was injured in a clash during the protest against women's entry into Sabarimala temple on Wednesday, has also died. 

Image courtesy: Shilpa Nair Twitter page