Indian priests of the temple push back women, defying the ruling of the court
Indian priests of the temple push back women, defying the ruling of the court
Dozens of Hindu priests joined conservative protesters on Friday to block menstruating women from one of the largest Hindu pilgrimage sites in the world, defying a decision by the Indian High Court to allow them to enter.
The priests threatened to stop the rituals and prayers at the Sabarimala temple in the southern hills of the state of Kerala if women aged 10 to 50 were trying to enter the sanctuary.
"We have decided to close the temple and hand over the keys and go out, I am with the devotees, I have no other choice," said Kandararu Rajeevaru, the main priest of the Sabarimala temple.
Two young women, a journalist and an activist, were forced to back down after arriving at the temple precincts under a heavy police escort.
Kadakampalli Surendran, a Kerala state minister, said the temple was not a place for activism and to prove a point and that the government was not responsible for providing security to the activists.
The minister's statement came despite the state government, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and promised to implement the decision of the Supreme Court.
Hundreds of protesters have blocked the entry of women of menstruating age since the temple reopened on Wednesday after the Supreme Court ruled three weeks ago that equality is paramount regardless of age and gender.
The temple will remain open for monthly prayers of five days until October 22.
The protesters pledged to file a petition with the Supreme Court next week to request a review of their September 28 ruling that allows all women to enter the temple. They say that the celibacy of the deity who presides over the temple, Lord Ayyappa, is protected by the Constitution of India, and that women of all ages can worship in other Hindu temples. Some Hindu figures consider that menstruating women are impure.
The entry of females between 10 and 50 years of age in the centuries-old temple was forbidden informally for many years, and then by law in 1972.
In 1991, the High Court of Kerala confirmed the ban. The Supreme Court of India lifted the ban last month, arguing that equality is paramount regardless of age and gender.
.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',
'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');
fbq('init', '369524843414444');
fbq('track', 'PageView');
.
SOURCE LINK ERESVIRAL.COM https://www.beviral.online
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario