Bindu Ammini, who was attacked with chilli spray while waiting near the Ernakulam police commissioner’s office on November 26 seeking police protection to enter the Sabarimala shrine has now moved to the Supreme Court seeking safe passage of all women regardless of age, religion.
She claims that there is no stay of the 2018 SC verdict and the Kerala police are bound to give protection to women (between the age of 10 and 50) who wanted to climb the Sabarimala shrine.
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It was reported that Bindu Ammini had earlier decided on moving a contempt of court petition in the SC alleging that the Kerala government was not cooperating with women seeking to enter the sanctum sanctorum of Sabarimala, but has instead moved a writ petition now in the apex court.
This writ petition is in the form of public interest litigation (PIL) in which she has sighted the 2018 SC’s Sabarimala judgement and went on to say that this judgement has not been stayed by the top court. She also argued that SC had not referred the issue to a larger bench in its November 14 order.
Last week, Bindu Ammini, while speaking to the media at the Press Club in Kottayam, said that the police or members of the Sangh Parivar, preventing women from the trek amounts to contempt of court.
She slammed the Kerala government for not giving police protection and dodging their responsibilities under the pretext that there was a lack of clarity in the Supreme Court’s latest judgment.
The apex court on November 14 referred the Sabarimala issue to a larger seven-member bench but did not impose a stay on its September 2018 verdict.
“There is no lack of clarity in the recent ruling. Those who have lack of clarity should seek clarity. Instead, the government is trying to escape from their responsibility. All political parties are trying to make political mileage out of the Sabarimala issue, eyeing on their respective vote banks. The Left has fallen for the trap prepared by the Sangh Parivar. And the Sangh Parivar is trying to create riots using people who have no sense of history,” she had said.
Bindu and another woman named Kanakadurga were sneaked into the Sabarimala shrine last year by the communist government to forcibly break the traditions of the temple. Both of them were reportedly CPM workers and they were accompanied by policemen dressed in plain clothes inside the shrine.
The devotees at Sabarimala had later alleged that the women were sneaked in via the VIP entrance early in the morning on January 2 last year.
The HC appointed monitoring committee had slammed the Kerala police and Patthanamittha administration for taking unauthorised steps to facilitate the entry of the two CPIM activists Bindu and Kanakadurga causing huge embarrassment for the Pinarayi Vijayan led Kerala government.
The Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government had faced severe protests and outrage by Hindus for its use of force to blatantly disregard the traditions and sentiments of a community and go out of its way to escort activists and atheists inside the temple.
The Kerala government’s excesses were slammed by the High Court. The Sabarimala excesses had also made the CPM face a massive electoral rout in the 2019 general elections.
This year, the Kerala government has been on a cautionary mode. They have made it clear that the SC’s decision to take on the review petitions for the September 2018 order and its statements on the regard have de facto stayed the earlier order and they will not provide state protection to women within the restricted age-group who are seeking entry into the shrine.
The efforts of non-Hindus, activists and atheists to forcibly enter a Hindu religious shrine under the garb of democratic rights and disregarding the faith and traditions of the devotees have been criticised widely by Hindus around the world.
It is notable here that the Sabarimala temple is the seat of Lord Ayyappa who is worshipped there in his ‘Naishtika Brahmachari’ form. Hence, only the devotees who had observed a rigorous 41-day penance and are carrying the ‘Irumudi’ are traditionally allowed into the shrine. Women of menstruating age are barred.
