These are far from memorable days in the history of the Sabarimala temple after the doors of the shrine opened for worship on Wednesday. The Supreme Court had passed a historic verdict allowing women of all ages to enter the temple on overturning a centuries-old ban on menstruating women praying at the hill shrine. Hindu hardliners opposed to the breaking of tradition, saw to it that not a single woman got anywhere close. The two women who got the closest to the Sannidhanam on Friday were also convinced into going away without attempting to enter the sanctum. The Kerala government had tried its best to carry out the top court order but was prevented by devotees and activists in the garb of devotees resisting women’s entry. The art of intimidation practised on the television media crew covering the stirring events surrounding the blockade of women under 50 attempting to undertake the pilgrimage seemed to suggest the kind of right wing political forces that were behind the operations.
The Constitution of India was not upheld. This is a country in which the people owe allegiance to the Constitution. The Gita, the Bible, the Quran and the Granth Sahib may help drive our personal lives and determine or define their morality. Regardless of the faith we belong to, the ultimate authority is the Indian Constitution under which the Supreme Court is one of the important guardians. If its verdict cannot be carried out, the fear will be engendered of mob rule being able to nix the law of the land. The Constitution, replacing the laws of the colonising British, was written by persons elected to a panel by the people. It has stood the test of time for over 70 years and served well the people of the sovereign republic of India. It is the Constitution which is under the greatest threat in this battle of faith versus law.
Gender justice was denied on the ground although the court had ruled that anyone could worship Lord Ayyappa at his most famous abode. Obscurantism is winning at the expense of an opportunity to set right a gender-based anomaly by which menstruating women are barred from ever entering the temple, and not only in the four days of the month in the life cycle of women as the more enlightened religions may dictate. Patriarchy has been masquerading as custom by refering to an old tradition of menstruating women not being allowed entry for fear of the ambience around a bachelor God being defiled. Science backs no such theory. Matters of faith may be different. It does, however, appear that it is politics at play in Kerala with the Opposition, BJP-RSS and the Congress egging on the resistance because the faithful outnumber the atheists by an overwhelming percentage. Politics is the bane of India and the Sabarimala argument may become just another example of this. Isn’t it time the government, the Devaswom board and the political parties sat together to resolve the issue until the top court rules on revision petitions?
