'The first time a ban on women aged between 10 and 50 entering Sabarimala came was in 1991 and was by a high court judgment.' 'So, it is only a 27-year-old ban.' 'The high court can fix customs and the Supreme Court can overturn it.' 'I don't see this as an attack on religious freedom or the practice of a religion.'
The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics. Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.
'It is wrong to assume that it is only after 1991 that we started following this ritual.' 'Ayyappan himself instructed where the temple had to be built, the rituals that had to followed and the route that had to be taken by devotees to the temple.'
Unlike previous days, the House even saw Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front members standing up from their seats and locking horns with opposition members, prompting the Speaker to warn both sides.
'Considering menstruating women impure is a Dravidian custom and is associated with the worship of nature by the tribal people'
'Because of the Supreme Court judgment, I am being denied my freedom of religion.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party lined up several promises, including a legislation to protect traditions of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala and a law against "love jihad", while assuring employment for at least one person from each family and free laptops to high school students, in its manifesto for the assembly polls unveiled in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
Why not triple talaq line to Sabarimala, Yechury asks Centre
A senior police officer told PTI that they were taken into custody after they had offered prayers.
'Sometime back, there was not much empathy for communal sentiments or traditions in Kerala.' 'The situation is totally different now.' 'The forces which were not so powerful earlier are getting more powerful now.'
Bindu Ammini was attacked by the member of a Hindu outfit using pepper or chilli spray outside the police commissionerate.
After several women were prevented from entering the Sabarimala shrine after the Supreme Court verdict upheld their right to do so, Bindu and Kanakadurga managed the seemingly impossible. Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com finds out how they did it.
Sooraj, hailing from Elanthur in Pathanamthitta district, was one of the main accused in the incident which took place on Tuesday when the hill shrine was opened for the two-day-long "Chithira Atta Thirunal," a special ritual.
The temple, which opened for the monthly puja on Friday evening, will allow pilgrims to offer prayers till October 21.
She was hit on her head by her mother-in-law. She is reportedly stable and has been referred for further tests in the hospital.
The Sabarimala Karma Samiti, a platform of right-wing outfits, including VHP, appealed to media houses not to depute women journalists in the menstrual age group to cover the developments in Sabarimala.
The Makkal Needhi Maiam founder-president said he would prefer to 'stay in the centre' and talk about things benefiting women.
The RSS leader said he had not violated any customs and claimed that he ascended the 18 steps carrying the sacred offerings.
Sasikala, said she was not allowed to undertake the trek to the shrine and sent back by the police, official sources said that she entered the sanctum sanctorum and offered prayers.
Braving threats from conservatives and the tough terrains of the hillock, K B Valsala Kumari, then collector of Pathanamthitta district, visited the temple complex at least four times during 1994-95.
A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde at the outset said that it will only deal with the issues referred to it by a five-judge bench on November 14 in the Sabarimala case, and asked the lawyers to convene a meeting on January 17 to decide on 're-framing' or adding additional issues to be deliberated upon by it.
Six women were prevented from entering the Sabarimala temple Sunday by a large number of devotees.
'Hindu unity is possible without any external forces playing any role if their faith is questioned.'
Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said on Monday and maintained that there was no lapse on the part of police.
The director general of police said everyone in the force should have to perform their duties irrespective of their religion and politics.
Kerala Union of Working Journalists decided to boycott the press meets called by the BJP after saffron party workers attacked mediapersons.
Gandhi, however, acknowledged that his opinion is different from that of his party on the "emotional issue" after the Supreme Court last month lifted the ban on entry of women of menstrual age to the hilltop shrine of Lord Ayyappa in Kerala.
Holding placards bearing pictures of Lord Ayyappa and chanting his hymns, the protesters marched through the busy roads of Kochi, the state's commercial hub, after launching the stir from the famed Shiva temple there.
'This government has huge respect for the Supreme Court and when there is going to be a hearing on the review petition, it is appropriate to refrain from taking any action till then.'
Swami Sandeepananda Giri had welcomed the apex court order permitting women in the 10-50 age group to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
Earlier, two women devotees could not proceed to the shrine after protesters forced them to return. Protesters pelted police with stones and the latter hit right back with vengeance wielding batons with telling effect, leaving many fallen and writhing in pain on the road.
The police, which took the women to safety, said that the duo informed the security forces that they came to Sabarimala without knowing the customs of the temple.
The two dauntless women -- Kanakadurga and Bindu -- aged 44 and 42, stepped into the hallowed precincts guarded by police three months after the Supreme Court's historic judgment
"The TDB is for resolving the issue and there is no politics for the board..."
'We will soon come back to Kerala to visit Sabarimala but we will not declare it in advance and come'
Since the temple opened at least 13 women have attempted to enter the shrine, but fallen short despite their valiant attempts.
The CEC said the commission would not allow any kind of violation that puts a particular political party at an advantage over another.
The judges on the bench are CJI S A Bobde, Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, M M Shantanagoudar, S A Nazeer, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant.
The first batch of police personnel had taken charge of the security on Saturday.
The apex court's observation came when senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for a woman devotee, Bindu Ammini, alleged violation of the 2018 verdict and said her client was attacked for her bid to enter the shrine.
