{"id":10358,"date":"2019-01-11T13:45:13","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T11:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=10358"},"modified":"2019-01-11T13:45:13","modified_gmt":"2019-01-11T11:45:13","slug":"indian-women-just-did-a-remarkable-thing-they-formed-a-wall-of-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2019\/01\/indian-women-just-did-a-remarkable-thing-they-formed-a-wall-of-protest\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian women just did a remarkable thing \u2013 they formed a wall of protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE GUARDIAN<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

By Snigdha Poonam<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They were asserting their right to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala \u2013 and have given hope for women\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n

On 1 January, in one of the biggest movements for women\u2019s rights in India,\u00a05 million women lined up<\/a>\u00a0across the length of the southern state of Kerala to \u201cuphold Renaissance values\u201d. What they were demanding was an end to violent agitations against women trying to enter Kerala\u2019s Sabarimala temple, a popular Hindu pilgrimage site. This followed a ruling by the\u00a0Indian\u00a0<\/a>supreme\u00a0<\/a>court in September,\u00a0<\/a>which forced the temple\u2019s doors open to women of all ages in a sensational blow to religious tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere a man can enter, a woman can also go. What applies to a man, applies to a woman,\u201d\u00a0the bench said in its judg<\/a>ment<\/a>. Since 1991, the temple has accepted only men and older women, in their millions every year, to preserve the mythological celibacy of the ruling deity, Ayyappa. In theory, the court order only reinforced Indian women\u2019s constitutional right to enter places of worship as freely as men, but in practice it\u00a0wr<\/a>eaked mayhem<\/a>. Between 17 November and 24 December, more than a dozen women of menstrual age, including reporters, tried to enter the temple but were stopped, shoved and stoned by mobs of male devotees. None of the women could make it in, despite police protection and prohibitory orders. Both sides are far from giving in.\u00a0Protests have since continued<\/a>, though most women who were sent back by the mobs have vowed to return.<\/p>\n