Sabarimala row: Six BJP youth wing activists arrested in Nilakkal for violating prohibitory orders

Prohibitory orders were in place in four towns of Kerala on Thursday even as some outfits began a day-long shutdown to protest a Supreme Court order allowing women to enter the Sabarimala temple. Violent protests against women devotees and journalists were reported on Wednesday, when the temple’s gates opened to devotees for monthly rituals for the first time since the verdict.

Here are the day’s updates:

7.36 pm: The Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala, offers to file review in Supreme Court to end the agitations. The board will meet on Friday to finalise its stand, reports FirstPost.

6.59 pm: Police register case against protestors who allegedly stopped a Delhi-based reporter for The New York Times, Suhasini Raj, from entering the shrine on Thursday morning, reports The Indian Express.

6.54 pm: The Ministry of Home Affairs issues an advisory to Kerala government, saying that maintaining law and order, including security to women wishing to visit the temple, is the state government’s responsibility, reports News 18.

6.39 pm: Devaswom Board President A Padmakumar hints at filing review petition in the court. “Will they stop protests if the board decides to file a review petition?” he asks. The board will meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

During the reconciliatory talks on October 15, the board said it would take a decision on filing a review petition after discussing with lawyers on Friday, October 19. Sabarimala temple priests and the Pandalam royal family, which is the custodian of the temple, had demanded that the board file a review petition.

5.53 pm: “We have never said that the temple will be closed if women of the traditionally barred age group enter there,” says Sabarimla head priest Kandaru Rajeevaru, according to PTI. “It is our duty and responsibility to carry out the monthly poojas and other rituals. We will not break the custom.”

5.36 pm: Police to deploy more personnel in Sabarimala and Pamba, reports Malayala Manorama. Senior police officials to monitor the situation, reports News 18. Additional battalions of Armed Police and commandos to be on standby in Thiruvananthapuram.

Protestors are planning to march to Inspector General of Police Manoj Abraham’s house in Thiruvananthapuram, reports Malayala Manorama.

5.32 pm: Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala says Sabarimala is a peaceful pilgrimage area, reports News 18. “I don’t understand why BJP and RSS are creating problems,” he says. “CPM is also another party that’s creating problems.”

4.54 pm: Devotees enter sannidhanam (temple complex) to offer prayers, reports ANI.

4.49 pm: Reddy says there was a “political angle” behind the protests because Kerala is ruled by a Left government, reports PTI. Reddy says he BJP and the Congress are unnecessarily politicising the issue and exploiting religious sentiments of the people.

“...if the RSS wants to take advantage of the sentiment and Congress too wants to utilise this [opportunity] to fight against the LDF government, it will not be possible [to deal with this issue properly],” he says.

4.46 pm: The Communist Party of India accuses BJP, RSS and Congress of indulging in “double-talk” and playing “dirty games” over the Sabarimala matter, reports PTI. “They [protestors] should respect the SC [Supreme Court] judgement in spite of the sentiment which they may be having,” says CPI National General Secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy. “Gender equality has to be accepted in the 21st century,” he says.

3.56 pm: Activist Rahul Easwar, who led the protests at Sabarimala, has been sent to police custody for 14 days, reports Hindustan Times. Police arrested Easwar on Wednesday.

3.44 pm: Police arrest six BJP youth wing activists in Nilakkal for staging a protest while prohibitory orders were in place, reports PTI. Youth wing activists staged a sit-in protest soon after BJP state President PS Sreedharan Pillai announced in Thiruvananthapuram that Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha would violate the prohibitory orders.

2.35 pm: Police detain around 40 BJP youth wing activists for violating prohibitory orders, reports The Indian Express. The activists staged a sit-in protest in Erumeli, chanting Lord Ayyappa’s name.

2.24 pm: Kerala Inspector General of Police Manoj Abraham says police will provide protection to every pilgrim, reports News 18. “We cannot cover the entire crowd, but we will offer protection to every pilgrim who comes to Sabarimala,” he says.

2.10 pm: Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran says the government has no vested interest to forcefully implement the Supreme Court order, reports Mathrubhumi. “The CM had convened an evaluation meet at Sannidhanam earlier,” the minister says. “It is my duty as Devaswom minister to to evaluate the situation here.”

1.58 pm: Kerala police chief Lokanath Behera directs police to register cases against those spread messages through social media and private groups to instigate violence in Nilakkal, reports Malayala Manorama.

1.50 pm: Protestors, reportedly belonging to the Sangh Parivar, vandalise state-run buses in Malappuram district, reports The Hindu. Two policemen suffer injuries as protestors hurl stones at them in Malappuram’s Tanur area.

1.34 pm: Alleging that the RSS is trying to make Sabarimala a riot zone, Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran releases an audio tape, purportedly of an RSS leader urging all its members to reach Sabarimala in large numbers.

“Their aim is to create trouble in Sabarimala,” Surendran says at the press conference. “We are just trying to implement the Supreme Court verdict. BJP should shed its double standards.”

1.30 pm: Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran asks BJP state president PS Sreedharan Pillai to show political prudence and confess to Ayyappa devotees that the Sangh Parivar fought a legal battle for 12 years to ensure women’s entry in Sabarimala.

“Five RSS members went to the Supreme Court demanding women be allowed to enter the temple,” says Surendran at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram. “The case went on for 12 years. RSS hired the best advocates to fight the case. And they got the favourable verdict. Marxists had no role in this. BJP leader Sreedharan Pillai should confess the role RSS played to get the favourable verdict.”

1.20 pm: Kerala Director General of Police Lokanath Behara orders the cyber cell to register cases against people spreading religious hate on social media, ANI reports.

1.11 pm: All-Kerala Brahmins Association moves Supreme Court seeking review of its judgement allowing women to enter the temple, ANI reports. The petition claims the judgement had errors that have resulted in a “grave miscarriage of justice” for Ayyappa devotees.

1.07 pm: Pathanamthitta district collector PB Nooh says the situation is peaceful. “There is no problem here,” Nooh tells ANI. “We’ve deployed sufficient police force in Pampa and Sannidhanam. There’s no issue. Currently this [Section 144] has been imposed for two days, further decision will be taken as per situation.”

12.51 pm: The Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party blames the Left Front state government for the attacks on journalists. “It was part of the plan designed by the CPI(M) people,” state BJP chief Sreedharan Pillai tells ANI. “They did this. 300 police personnel, who had not completed their training, were taken there and this scene was created.”

12.06 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemns the protests at Sabarimala. “RSS and Sangh Parivar have intolerance over the secular character of Sabarimala,” he writes on Facebook. Vijayan is currently in the United Arab Emirates.

“In many phases, they have tried to change the traditional customs which uphold secularism in Sabarimala,” he writes. “Even devotees are attacked by the protestors. Attempts are made to block pilgrims from other states. Sabarimala is converted as a war zone by deploying criminal gangs here. The government would not allow any more violence in Sabarimala.”

12.03 pm: It is a dangerous situation, Sabarimala temple head priest Kandararu Rajeevaru tells ANI. “Most of the devotees are desperate after SC verdict,” he says. “It’s my request that (sic) please maintain system and custom of Sabarimala temple. I don’t agree with violence. It hasn’t been done by devotees but by others.”

He adds: “Supreme Court thinks only about the law of the land, not about the customs & traditions. So many devotees still want that the old custom should be maintained. I have only one opinion, which is based on the old custom and tradition.”

11.59 am: “It is our job to give protection to all pilgrims,” say Kerala police. “We’ll put more manpower and secure all routes.”

11.53 am: Shutdown is in full effect in Pathanamthitta district. Protestors stop vehicles from Pathanamthitta to Sabarimala.

10.59 am: The prohibitory orders have been extended till Friday, reports Mathrubhumi.

10.51 am: “The premise of the tradition that has been accepted by society and continuously followed for years together was not taken into consideration,” says RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. “The version of heads of religious denominations and faith of crores of devotees was not taken into account.”

10.47 am: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat says men and women are treated as equals at Sabarimala, according to News18. “We should have built consensus,” he says. “The devotees should have been consulted.”

10.15 am: Protestors pelt stones at buses in Kozhikode and Malappuram. The Kerala state bus service has stopped its operations in the districts following the violence, reports Mathrubhumi. Buses are operating in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.

10.10 am: Prohibitory orders are in effect at four places – Nilakkal, Pampa, Elavunkal and Sannidhanam. Pathanamthitta district collector PB Nooha said that the orders were issued only to stop protests and will not affect pilgrims, reports Manorama Online.

10.05 am: Police are ready to provide New York Times reporter Suhasini Raj security if she wants to enter the temple, reports Mathrubhumi.

10 am: Protestors stop a journalist from Delhi from entering the shrine on Thursday morning. Suhasini Raj, a reporter for The New York Times, was accompanied by a foreign colleague.

She was provided police protection as she began a trek up the Sabarimala hill, but protestors blocked her at Marakkoottam. She was then forced to end the trek and returned to Pamba, reported Asianet. “I was hit with stones,” said Raj. “Protestors hurled abuses at me.”

9.45 am: Some fringe outfits have called for a shutdown in Kerala. A24-hour shutdown, which started at midnight, was called by fringe groups Antharashtriya Hindu Parishad led by Pravin Togadia and the Sabarimala Samrakshana Samithi, PTI reports.

9.30 am: On Wednesday, the police baton-charged protestors and arrested at least 21 people in Pamba for protesting against the entry of women into the temple. Nine people were arrested on Tuesday. More than 700 police personnel were deployed at the shrine to maintain law and order in the area.

Protestors verbally abused and beat up several women journalists as they attempted to enter the temple on Wednesday. Protestors at Nilakkal base camp damaged a car in which women pilgrims were travelling, reported Malayala Manorama. Nilakkal is a halting place for Ayyappa devotees during the pilgrimage and located about 23 km from the temple.

9.15 am: Activist Rahul Easwar, leading the protests at Sabarimala, was detained on Wednesday. Former Travancore Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan and the wife and daughter of a chief priest of the temple were taken into custody for protesting against the Supreme Court verdict.

The police also detained family members of the chief priest and the Pandalam royal family, which is the custodian of the temple, for protesting in Pamba, reported The Indian Express.

Kerala’s Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said no one will be allowed to block pilgrims from worshiping at the temple. He visited Sabarimala on Wednesday to facilitate the entry of women into the temple. The temple will be open for devotees to offer prayers until October 22.

9 am: The Sabarimala Temple gates opened to devotees on Wednesday amid violent protests against women devotees and journalists.

Last month, the Supreme Court allowed the entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the Sabarimala temple. The Left government in Kerala has decided to implement the court ruling and not file a review, while the Opposition Congress and the BJP have accused the state of showing “undue haste” in implementing the order. The National Ayyappa Devotees Association and the Nair Service Society have filed review petitions in the top court.