11 women brave protests for 8 hrs, chased away by mob

Thiruvananthapuram/Pamba: Sabarimala witnessed high-voltage tension for nearly eight hours on Sunday as 11 women from Tamil Nadu, aged below 50, tried to trek the hills to worship at the Ayyappa shrine amid stiff and relentless resistance.

After braving mounting protest from a large posse of male pilgrims at Pamba for nearly eight hours, the women first took refuge in the police guard room to escape a violent mob and subsequently dropped their plans.

While Selvi, leader of the Chennai-based outfit Manithi who led the group, alleged that they were forced by the police to return, superintendent of police Karthikeyan Gokulachandran, the police controller of Pamba, claimed that they decided to return given the tense situation.

Ms Selvi also said that they would approach the court and will try to visit Lord Ayyappa again.

Manithi had announced its plans to take a group of about 50 women to Sabarimala about a week ago and had also sent a request to the chief minister’s office seeking protection. They received an assurance to provide security, Ms Selvi had earlier told this newspaper.

By Saturday evening, when the group of women reached Kumily, they were escorted by the police till Pamba on a minibus. Given that there were protests at many places, the cops reportedly took odd routes to reach Pamba. While all vehicles with devotees are allowed only up to Nilakkal, the minibus with the women was allowed to go up to Pamba.

By around 4 am Sunday, they reached Pamba and went to the Pamba Ganapathi temple to prepare the “Irumudikettu” (offerings to Lord Ayyappa that has to be carried on the head while trekking). But the priests refused to help them prepare it. Hence they themselves prepared the “Irumudikettu” and proceeded towards the hill.

But about 50 meters ahead on the trekking patch, a group of about 100 male pilgrims blocked their way by squatting on the ground and raising Ayyappa chants. The women also squatted, determined not to go back and raised counter chants. As time passed, the number of protesters increased.  

Though police officers on the spot held deliberations with Ms Selvi, the women seemed adamant, in no mood to retreat. With no end in sight, by around 11 am, the police started removing the protestors one by one forcibly.

In the meantime, another police party tried to take the women’s group towards the trekking path. But more male pilgrims rushed towards them aggressively.

Scared, the women ran back and took shelter in the nearby police guard room. The massive posse of police later took them to the Pamba police station where Mr Karthikeyan held discussions with them and they subsequently retreated. They were given police security till Kumily.

The police has registered two separate cases against the pilgrims who blocked the women and tried to attack them. About 11 of them were arrested by evening.

No prominent leader of the BJP, RSS or other political outfits was present at Pamba during the protests, police sources said.

After the Supreme Court order lifted restrictions on women below 50 and children above 10 visiting Sabarimala, about a dozen women, including Bhoomatha Brigade leader Trupti Desai, have ventured to visit Sabarimala. But all were in vain, till now.