Sabarimala Temple Protests LIVE: BJP Yuva Morcha Members Detained in Nilakkal



Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has blamed the protests against women’s entry into the Lord Ayyappa shrine on the RSS, saying encouraging such agitation would lead to “banishment of backward classes from places like Sabarimala”. It’s been more than 20 hours since the temple gates opened for the first time since Supreme Court allowed women of menstrual age the right to pray at the shrine, but no woman has been able to even reach the 18 steps let alone enter the sanctum sanctorum.



New York Times journalist Suhasini Raj tried to make the journey this morning, but had to turn back midway after being attacked by angry male devotees. Raj returned to Kochi under police protection. Speaking to CNN-News18, she lauded the efforts of the Kerala Police and said they were ready to deploy additional forces, but she decided against a fresh attempt. She was the third woman to be turned back by protesting devotees since gates of Lord Ayyappa temple opened last evening for monthly prayers. The protesters are stopping women journalists too from embarking on the trek to the temple.



A 24-hour bandh called by Pravin Togadia’s Antharashtriya Hindu Parishad and Sabarimala Samrakshana Samithi, an outfit of devotees, has also begun taking effect in Kerala. Buses run by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) have reportedly been pelted with stones in Kozikode, Cherthala and Aatingal.



The Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala had opened its iron gates on Wednesday for the first time since the Supreme Court allowed women of menstrual age to enter the shrine but none from the "banned" age group could make it to its hallowed precincts amid a welter of protests and violent clashes.



Authorities have imposed Section 144 at Sannidhanam, Pamba, Nilakkal and Ilavunkal, but the prohibitory orders are being violated as protesters under the gathering under the guise of being devotees.



CNN-News18 crew covering the Sabarimala protests was attacked by a mob at the Nilakkal base camp, the main gateway to the hill shrine, in a cowardly tactic designed to intimidate women devotees ahead of the temple’s opening at 5pm.



Women journalists from other organisations too were heckled and their vehicles smashed. Most of the attacks began in the form of "vehicle checks" by protesters to ensure that young women are not inside. Chaos and mayhem ruled supreme on the road leading from Nilakkal to Pamba in the foothills from where the devotees start the arduous trek to Sabarimala, as activists of Hindu fringe groups fought pitched battles with police, leaving many injured and bleeding.



Angry over Kerala's Left Front government's decision not to file a review plea against the Supreme Court's September 28 landmark order, protesters pelted police with stones. The police too responded with batons, leaving many fallen and writhing in pain on the road.



Several protesters were seen being bundled into police vehicles, while siren blaring ambulances carried some to hospitals. At least 10 people from the media, including reporters and photojournalists, were injured and equipment of several of them damaged, senior minister EP Jayarajan said.



Unfazed by the unfolding violence, Madhavi, a gutsy woman from Andhra Pradesh in her 40s, tried to climb the Sabarimala hills to reach the Lord Ayyappa temple, but was forced to return to Pamba, menaced by agitated male devotees, reported PTI.



Both the Congress, the main opposition party in Kerala, and the BJP, which is desperately seeking to expand its footprint in the state, have lent support to the agitation against the Supreme Court verdict.



State Congress working president K Sudhakaran led his party workers in a protest at Nilakkal to express solidarity with Ayyappa devotees.



An embattled Left Front government reacted sharply to the protests, with the state's religious trusts minister Kadakampally Surendran calling them "politically motivated".



Surendran, who reviewed the situation and preparations for the three-month-long Mandalam-Makaravilakku-festival beginning November 17 at Sannidhanam (Sabarimala temple complex), said the government would tackle the agitation politically.



"The BJP-RSS are trying to create tension and destroy the peaceful atmosphere in Kerala for political gain. We know the agenda of the RSS and BJP very well," he said, and insisted the government did not want any confrontation with believers.



The BJP rejected the allegation, saying the government was responsible for the "collapse" of law and order.



Party leader and MP V Muraleedharan said the government should shed its stubbornness and respect the sentiments of the people of Kerala.



Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala blamed both the ruling CPI(M) and the BJP-RSS combine for violence.



Even as streets in Nilakkal and Pamba erupted in tumult, thousands of bare-chested Ayyappa devotees waited patiently in the vast concourse outside Sabarimala for its gates to open at the appointed hour: 5 pm.



Carrying "Irumudikettu" (the sacred bundle containing ghee-filled coconuts they offer to the deity), they calmly walked past security personnel to take their place in the long queue where they would wait for hours on end for a glimpse of Lord Ayyappa.



Though older women and very young girls could be seen in the crowd, none of menstrual age was spotted.



"No girl or woman in the age group of 10 and 50 has so far visited Sannidhanam (the temple complex) so far," a senior official of the Travancore Devaswom Board, the body which manages the shrine, told PTI wishing not to be named.



The shrine will remain open for the 5-day monthly pooja during the Malayalam month of Thulam before being closed on October 22.



The Pathanamthitta district authority has promulgated prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC banning assembly of four or more people in strife-torn Pamba and Nilakkal following Wednesday's violence and a strike called by right wing outfits.



The BJP and its NDA partners have backed a 12-hour 'hartal' called by Sabarimala Action Council to protest the police action against devotees. The Congress said it would not join the strike but hold protest demonstrations across the state on Thursday.