INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Many of those protesting against women entering the temple are women
themselves
It's been more than a month since India's Supreme Court revoked a ban on women aged between 10 and 51 entering a
prominent Hindu temple in southern India
Yet no women have been able to enter so far
The Sabarimala temple in Kerala state officially opened its gates on Friday evening, the start of the annual pilgrimage season
The temple had also opened for a few hours twice after the court verdict.But ever since the ban was repealed, tens of thousands of
protesters, including many women, have blocked roads, attacked female devotees and vandalised property in a bid to stop women from entering
They say that they are protecting their deity in accordance with an age-old belief that women of a menstruating age are a threat to his
A debate around this has been raging in the rest of the country as well
We asked two writers, with different viewpoints, to explain their stand
These are selected excerpts: The 'feminist' ruling angering the women it meant to empowerShyam Krishnakumar, commentatorEquality cannot
become a premise to create an artificial homogeneity, forcing a conformity that destroys diverse, intergenerational practices, which enjoy
the support of all stakeholders, including women
No efforts are taken to sincerely engage with the practices of the actual stakeholders
What masquerades under the garb of "reform" is a way to impose modernity on native practices by judicial writ and state force if necessary
The judgement has also raised disturbing questions about the relationship between religion and state in India
The government has become increasingly involved in managing religious institutions and the judiciary in determining "correct" religious
Image copyrightKaviyoor SanthoshImage caption
Sabarimala is one of the most prominent Hindu temples in the country
The stand-off at Sabarimala exposes the stark dichotomy between a cosmopolitan elite who celebrate the "liberation" of women and
the visceral grassroots reaction from millions of women devotees who feel their voices are not being heard in today's India.Kerala is not a
place where women are voiceless
It has historically been a matrilineal society where women have controlled and inherited property for centuries
The state has the highest literacy rate in India and its social indicators are comparable to developed countries
The protesting women feel that no one cared to understand their worldview
They feel that those with privilege and a voice are imposing a "liberation" that these women do not seek
Read the full article hereTo ban women from Sabarimala is yet another form of 'victim-shaming'Devika J, historian and social commentatorAs
someone who lives in Kerala, I can vouch that misogyny here is just as toxic as anywhere else in India
The myth that Kerala is a matrilineal society and that women here enjoy freedom and equal rights has been a persistent one
This myth has continued to circulate despite a rising mountain of evidence against that rosy picture
Critics often cherry-pick facts to suit their arguments
Image:A TheIndianSubcontinent team was forced to leave as protests turned violent.In this debate, feminists in Kerala and elsewhere who have
publicly supported the court verdict have been told that they are too "elite" to do so and their concerns are ultimately too cosmopolitan to
represent marginalised women and devotees
But the same critics have no problem putting privileged and elite women forward to make their arguments sound more convincing.But all women
- elite or not - should oppose the belief that they must be barred from the Sabarimala temple to protect the deity's celibacy
Isn't the reasoning employed here very similar to the one used to victim-shame survivors of rape and sexual harassment - that their attire
or their presence provoked their attackerIf such a belief is being peddled as tradition, it is important for everyone in a democratic
society to strongly oppose it
Read the full article here
