Hindu shrine | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

14/11/2019

Sabarimala temple: India court to review ruling on women’s entry

Devotees inside the Sabarimala temple — Image caption Sabarimala is one of the most prominent Hindu temples in the country

India’s Supreme Court has agreed to review its landmark judgement allowing women of menstruating age to enter a controversial Hindu shrine.

A five-judge bench last year ruled that keeping women out of the Sabarimala shrine in the southern state of Kerala was discriminatory.

The verdict led to massive protests in the state.

Women who tried to enter the shrine were either sent back or, in some cases, even assaulted.

The move is likely to anger women who fought hard to win the right to enter the temple.

Hinduism regards menstruating women as unclean and bars them from participating in religious rituals.

Many temples bar women during their periods and many devout women voluntarily stay away, but Sabarimala had a blanket ban on all women between the ages of 10 and 50.

What did the court say?

On Thursday the five-judge bench, responding to dozens of review petitions challenging the court’s landmark judgement last year, said that the matter would now be heard by a larger bench.

In doing so, however, it did not stay its earlier order. This means women can still legally enter the temple.

But it’s not going to be easy for them.

Two women trying to enter the temple in full riot gear — Image caption Some women tried to enter the temple last year

A temple official welcomed the ruling and appealed to women to stay away.

Women trying to enter the temple after the verdict last year were attacked by mobs blocking the way.

Many checked vehicles heading towards the temple to see if any women of a “menstruating age” – deemed to be those aged between 10 and 50 years – were trying to enter.

Following Thursday’s verdict, police in Kerala have appealed for calm, saying that action will be taken “against those who take the law into their own hands”. They added that social media accounts would be under surveillance and those stoking religious tensions online would be arrested.

‘One step forward, two steps back’

Geeta Pandey, BBC News, Delhi

Today’s verdict will come as a massive disappointment to women’s rights campaigners. It’s a case of one step forward, two steps back.

In 2018, while lifting the ban on women’s entry into the shrine, the Supreme Court had said that everyone had the right to practice religion and that the ban was a form of “untouchability”.

It was seen as a hugely progressive ruling and had given hope to women that they were equal before the law and could now claim equality before the gods too. What happened in court today has taken that sense away.

The Supreme Court has not put its earlier order on hold, but with the ambiguity over women’s entry continuing, it’s very likely they could be kept out in the name of keeping peace.

With the case now to be reopened by a larger seven-judge bench, the fight will have to be fought all over again.

Why is the temple so controversial?

Part of the violent opposition to the Supreme Court order to reverse the temple’s historical ban on women was because protesters felt the ruling goes against the wishes of the deity, Lord Ayappa, himself.

While most Hindu temples allow women to enter as long as they are not menstruating, the Sabarimala temple is unusual in that it was one of the few that did not allow women in a broad age group to enter at all.

Hindu devotees say that the ban on women entering Sabarimala is not about menstruation alone – it is also in keeping with the wish of the deity who is believed to have laid down clear rules about the pilgrimage to seek his blessings.

Indian Police patrol during clashes between Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) in front of the Kerala Government Secretariat in Thiruvnanthapuram on January 02, 2019 — Image caption The entry of women into the Sabarimala temple sparked angry scenes

Every year, millions of male devotees trek up a steep hill, often barefoot, to visit the shrine. They also undertake a rigorous 41-day fast, abstaining from smoking, alcohol, meat, sex and contact with menstruating women before they begin the journey.

Women’s rights campaigners who appealed to the Supreme Court to lift the ban said that this custom violated equality guaranteed under India’s constitution. They added that it was prejudiced against women and their right to worship.

Supporters of the ban argued that the practice had been in effect for centuries, and there was no need to change it now.

So, were any women able to enter last year?

In January, two women defied protesters and entered the shrine.

Kanakadurga, 39, and Bindu Ammini, 40, made history when they entered the Sabarimala shrine – but they had to do so under heavy police protection and were also met with massive protests after.

Right-wing groups, supported by India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), demanded a state-wide shutdown after, and businesses and transportation became paralysed.

Across the state hundreds were arrested, and at least one person was killed in clashes.

In an interview with the BBC, the women said they felt it necessary to uphold women’s rights and they weren’t afraid of mobs “enraged” by their actions.

Media caption One of the women who defied protesters to enter the Sabarimala temple says she has ‘no fear’

“I am not afraid. But every time women make any progress, society has always made a lot of noise,” Ms Kanakadurga told the BBC in January.

But their decision to enter the temple also came at heavy personal cost.

She alleged that she had been beaten by her mother-in-law and abandoned. She has since filed for divorce.

Source: The BBC

Posted in blanket ban, controversial, court, entry, Hindu shrine, Hindu temples, India alert, India's Supreme Court, Kerala, landmark judgement, menstruating age, review, ruling, Sabarimala temple, Uncategorized, unclean, women's | Leave a Comment »

Farmers thresh paddy, separating grain from chaff, during the harvest season on October 2, 2019 on the outskirts of Srinagar, India.

The lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir has cost the region’s economy more than $1bn in two months, according to industry experts. BBC Hindi’s Vineet Khare reports.

Mushtaq Chai recalls the afternoon of 2 August when he received a “security advisory” from the administration. A prominent local businessman, he owns several hotels across the Muslim-majority valley in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The note warned of “terror threats” and advised that tourists and Hindu pilgrims should “curtail their visit… and return as soon as possible”.

Mr Chai, like many others, took the advisory seriously. Two years before, seven Hindu pilgrims were killed in a militant attack while returning from the Amarnath cave, a major Hindu shrine in Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

“This was the first time in Kashmir’s history that tourists and pilgrims were asked to leave,” Mr Chai says.

Indian tourists seen leaving the City during the curfew in Srinagar on 16 August 2019. — Image caption Tourists left Kashmir amid a curfew in August

Soon officials arrived to enforce the order, and Mr Chai and his staff made arrangements for all of the guests to leave immediately.

Days later, on 5 August, the federal government stripped the region of its special status and placed it under a communications lockdown.

Two months on, the situation is far from normal. Internet and mobile phone connections remain suspended, public transport is not easily available, and most businesses are shut – some in protest against the government, and others for fear of reprisals from militants opposed to Indian rule.

There is also a shortage of skilled labour, as some 400,000 migrants have left since the lockdown began.

What’s more, the streets are deserted and devoid of the tourist business which had supported up to 700,000 people.

Read more about Kashmir

The lockdown has not come cheap.

A government official, who did not wish to be named, says they are “awaiting a financial package” from the federal government. But the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates the shutdown has already cost the region more than $1.4bn (£1.13bn), and thousands of jobs have been lost.

“There are around 3,000 hotels in the valley and they are all empty. They have loans to pay off and daily expenses to bear,” says Mr Chai, sitting in his mostly empty hotel in the capital, Srinagar.

Only a handful of his 125 staff are at work. Many haven’t returned because of lack of transport – or fear. Tensions have been high in the region, and there have been a number of protests in the city.

But the situation may improve in the coming days as the government has announced that tourists will allowed in the state from Thursday.

Empty houseboats on Srinagar's Dal lake. — Image caption Hundreds of houseboats have been lying vacant

But it isn’t just the hotels which have suffered.

“No internet has meant more than 5,000 travel agents have lost work,” says Javed Ahmed, a travel agent himself. “The government says give jobs to the youth. We are young but jobless. We have nothing to do with politics. We want jobs.”

Srinagar’s almost 1,000 iconic houseboats have also been running empty.

“Every houseboat needs up to $7,000 a year for maintenance,” says Hamid Wangnoo from the Kashmir Houseboats Owners Association. “For many, this is the only source of livelihood.”

And it isn’t just tourism.

“More than 50,000 jobs have been lost in the carpet industry alone,” according to Shiekh Ashiq, president of the chamber of industry.

He says July to September is when carpet makers usually receive orders for export – especially overseas, so they can deliver by Christmas.

But they are unable to contact importers, or even their own employees, because of the communications lockdown.

Apples are ready to be harvested in an orchard in Shopian district of southern Kashmir valley. — Image caption Kashmir’s famous apple orchards have also been hit hard

In southern Kashmir, the region’s famous apples are still waiting to be plucked from the trees. But shops and cold storage units are shut, and the main apple market is empty. Last year, it did business worth $197m, local farmers say.

“I feel so much pain seeing my apples hanging from the trees that I don’t go to the orchard anymore,” says a worried apple grower, who did not wish to be named.

“Apples account for 12–15% of Kashmir’s economy, but more than half of this year’s produce has not been plucked,” says economic journalist Masood Hussain. “If this continues through October, it will have devastating consequences.”

In Srinagar, some shop owners wait outside their stores and open them for a customer before closing them hurriedly – until the next customer arrives.

One such owner says he is unhappy with the government’s decision, but he is also scared of angry locals who want him to keep his business closed.

“But how do I survive without my daily earnings?” he asked.

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Archive for ‘Hindu shrine’

Sabarimala temple: India court to review ruling on women’s entry

What did the court say?

‘One step forward, two steps back’

Why is the temple so controversial?

So, were any women able to enter last year?

Kashmir conflict: Woes deepen as lockdown stifles economy

Read more about Kashmir

Tags

Creative Commons

Archives

Meta

Blog Stats