The Canadian Parvasi-issue 65

The International News Weekly india
October 19, 2018 | Toronto 08
"Everyone Can Go": Top Court On
Entry Of Women In Sabarimala Temple
Agencies
Kerala : Tensions are
high in Kerala as Sabarimala
temple gates were
opened today to all devotees,
including women,
for the first time since a
Supreme Court order overturned
a centuries-old ban
on women of menstruating
age -between 10 and 50
- from visiting the shrine.
Thousands of security
personals including policewomen
have been deployed
in Nilackal, some 20 kms
away from the Sabarimala
hilltop, to encounter any
situation. On Tuesday,
hours before the temple
opens, agitators stopped
and checked vehicles, including
state-run buses,
at Nilackal and forcibly
turned back girls and women
of this age group.
Scores of protesters,
including women and various
right-wing organisations,
have been camping
in Nilackal town to protest
against the SC decision to
allow entry of women inside
the temple. However,
security forces have removed
the makeshift shelters
of protesters.
The last gasp effort by
the Travancore Devaswom
Board (TDB), which
manages the temple, to defuse
the situation came to
nought with the Pandalam
royal family and other
stakeholders walking out of
a meeting called by it over
its reluctance to discuss the
issue of filing a review petition
against the apex court
order. Meanwhile, hundreds
of women devotees of
Lord Ayyappa, picketed the
road to the hill shrine and
prevented women they suspected
were of menstrual
age from proceeding to the
shrine some 20 km away.
Lustily chanting
"Swamiya Saranam Ayyappa"
hailing the Lord, the
devotees checked buses and
private vehicles for girls
and women of the "banned"
age group and forced them
to abandon their journey.
Television channels
showed some college students,
including young
girls wearing black dresses,
being ordered to get down a
bus. Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan, facing a tough
time tackling the highly
emotive religious issue
which has also acquired
political overtones, issued a
stern warning to those who
dared block devotees from
entering the temple.
"We will ensure security
to all. Nobody will be
allowed to take law into
their hands. My government
will not allow any violence
in the name of Sabarimala,"
he told reporters in
Thiruvananthapuram as
followers of Lord Ayyappa
virtually besieged Nilackal,
about 225 km from the
state capital. "Stern action
will be taken against anyone
who prevents devotees
from going to Sabarimala,"
he warned, and ruled out
any rethink of his government's
decision against
seeking a review of the Supreme
Court order.
"We will go by what the
Supreme Court says," he asserted.
The Travancore Devaswon
Board (TDB), meanwhile,
went into a huddle
with stakeholders, including
the Pandalam royal
family representatives and
priests, to soothe frayed
tempers amid escalating
protests by the Hindu right
and common Ayyappa devotees.
There was, however,
no breakthrough.
The meeting also attended
by Ayyappa Seva
Samajam and Yoga Kshema
Sabha ended in a deadlock
as the TDB stuck to its
stand of not filing a review
petition. "It is very painful
and we cannot agree. We
wanted a decision on filing
the review petition to
be taken today itself, but
the board said it can be
discussed only at the next
meeting of TDB on October
19," Shashikumar Varma,
a member of the Pandalam
royal family said.
"We all wish that
Sabarimala should not be
made a war zone," Varma,
the president of Pandalam
Royal Palace Trust, told
journalists after walking
out of the meeting in a huff.
TDB president A Padmakumar,
however, dismissed
suggestions that the
meeting was a "failure".
"What they (stakeholders)
wanted was to file the
review petition now itself.
But the Supreme Court is
closed till October 22. They
also wanted to maintain the
status quo on the customs
and traditions. "As the Supreme
Court has passed a
verdict, what can the board
do? But the board will continue
to talk with them to
resolve the issue," Padmakumar
said. He said the October
19 meeting will take
up the issue of the review
petition.
Kerala has witnessed
a series of protests and
prayer marches over the
last few days over the government's
decision to enforce
the Supreme Court order.
The Shiv Sena recently
warned of "mass suicides"
if women of menstrual age
were allowed into the temple.
Some other organisations
have said women and
girls aged between 10 and
50 years will have to tread
on them before entering the
temple.
Actor-turned-BJP politician
Kollam Thulashi
went to the entent of saying
women of "banned age" visiting
the shrine should be
"ripped apart".
Nun’s rape: Released on bail, Bishop Franco reaches Jalandhar
Jalandhar : Franco
Mulakkal was on Wednesday
given a ‘grand’ welcome
by the Diocese of Jalandhar
as he returned from Kerala
after getting bail in a rape
case. Mulakkal, who headed
the Diocese of Jalandhar
before stepping aside last
month, has been accused of
raping a nun. He remained
in jail for over three weeks
before getting conditional
bail on October 15.
Mulakkal reached the
Bishop House in Jalandhar
around 5 pm on Wednesday
where large number of his
supporters, including nuns
who out numbered others,
and the current administrative
Bishop, Agnelo Gracias,
were present at the main entrance
to welcome him.
Posters welcoming Mulakkal
were put up around
the Bishop House. The road
leading to the Bishop House
was jammed as hundreds
lined the way raising slogans
and reciting prayers
in favour of Mulakkal and
the Catholic Church. A nun
said she had come from
Gurdaspur church along
with several other nuns just
to express solidarity with
the Bishop.
Supporters showered
flower petals on his vehicle
as it entered the Bishop
House and even garlanded
him when he alighted from
it. Mulakkal was lodged at
the Pala jail after he was
arrested on September 21
after questioning by the
Crime Branch, Thrippunithura.
He had stepped down
from his post before leaving
for Kerala to join investigation
on September 19.