After the Ayyapa jatara ended on January 14 with the so called ‘Makara Jyothi’ appearing for the devotees at Sabarimala, Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of the Left front government, emerged a skillful social reformer and good administrator. The Narendra Modi government deployed its Kerala wing to push him against a wall by opposing the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment in 2018 lifting the ban[Read More...]
Harappa! We are all your descendants You shepherded the first civilization You built the first city in the East You domesticated the early animals Goat, sheep, buffalo, dog and donkey. You made the first pot, brick, bronze tools You built the first tank, boat and building. You were God’s Own Man. Brahma came and burnt all your civilization Indra damaged[Read More...]
“Untouchability is a crime against god and humanity,” said the Mahatma, the father of our nation. And untouchability is a crime in India. But Sabarimala temple in Kerala has been practising gender untouchability long since by imposing selective ban on menstruating women and the quite positive and progressive verdict of Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2018 put an end to this selective[Read More...]
The entry of two women devotees, Bindu and Kanakadurga, into the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala temple on January 2 led to widespread violence in the state of Kerala. The violence, which erupted during the bandh call issued by the BJP and allied organisations on January 3, saw not just damage of public property but also the loss of a[Read More...]
To Shri Pinarayi Vijayan Chief Minister of Kerala CC To: President of India, Chief Justice of India, Governor of Kerala Over 200 women’s activists, dalit activists, adivasi activists, human rights groups, social organisations, cultural personalities and well known citizens demand the dismissal of the priests in Sabarimala over violation of constitutional rights and return the shrine to adivasis.
A Six Hundred Twenty Kilometer long human chain was created yesterday in Kerala against the attempt to communalise the environment in the state particularly related to the issues of Sabarimala which the Hindu organisations have been violently protesting against the Supreme Court order of allowing the women to enter into the temple. That even after 71 years of our independence,[Read More...]
After the historic ‘Women’s Wall’ that challenged Brahmanic Patriarchy two young women entered the Sabarimala temple early morning today. Bindu and Kanaka Durga, both in their early 40s, entered the hilltop shrine around 3.45 am. This is the first entry of women after the Supreme Court ordered the end of a decades-old ban on women of menstrual age entering the[Read More...]
About 3-5 million women formed a wall across Kerala to protect to protect Kerala’s renaissance values and for women empowerment. About three million women stood shoulder to shoulder across Kerala and formed 620 KM “wall” from Thiruvananthapuram to the northern district of Kasaragod. They also pledged to protec the renaissance values of Kerala. The wall was organised against the backdrop[Read More...]
In rural Andhra Pradesh, there is a proverb that is reportedly used by rapists against their victims, “Allow me to rape you — or I’ll cut my own organ [presumably, the penis].” The saying reflects deep-seated misogyny and chauvinistic tendencies. The threat of self-immolation now emerging from Thiruvananthapuram against the Supreme Court order that allowed women of all age groups[Read More...]
Shashi Tharoor, in an article published in The Print on 10th November, has made some arguments against the appropriateness of the Supreme Court verdict on Sabarimala. In making his case, he criticises the firm position of the Left-led state government on the issue and calls it misplaced. It may be recalled that on 3rd October, the prominent Congress leader had welcomed the judgment and said that “every time[Read More...]
