Nilackal (Kerala): Tension prevailed this morning in Kerala’s Nilackal, the main gateway to Sabarimala, after the police used force to disperse devotees opposing the entry of girls and women of menstrual age to the hill shrine.
Acting tough, the police, deployed in large numbers in Nilackal, some 20 km from the Sabarimala hilltop, also removed a makeshift shelter erected by a protesting group, Sabarimala Achara Samrakshana Samiti.
The protesting group of devotees had been staging a sit-in chanting Ayyappa mantra in the shelter in protest against the Supreme Court order permitting women of all age groups to enter the shrine.
The protesters, who were few in numbers, ran from the spot when the police initiated action in the early hours today when they tried to block buses from the key entry point to the temple.
Hours ahead of the opening of the hill shrine for the monthly prayer, the police said they would not let anyone block the movement of people.
Taking full control of Nilackal, the police also warned against those who create hurdles in the ways of pilgrims to the hill shrine. The police took strong action against the protesters after some of them checked the vehicles heading to Pamba and prevented women in the age group of 10 and 50 from entering the hill shrine.
A couple from Tamil Nadu, aged 45 and 40, on their way to Pamba, were forced to get down from the KSRTC bus Monday night allegedly by some activists of the Sabarimala Achara Samrakshana Samiti.
Although the couple had said they would only go up to Pamba and not climb Sabarimala, the activists prevented them. The police later took them to safety. Some activists of the Sabarimala Achara Samrakshana Samiti, who had stayed back at Nilackal, also allegedly prevented mediapersons from carrying out their professional duty.
The crew of various TV news channels were asked to leave the place. They could return the spot only after more policemen were deployed in the area.
Around 500 police personnel, including women, have been deployed in Nilackal to ensure a safe passage to the pilgrims to the Lord Ayyappa temple. Meanwhile, another group of devotees said they would stage a Gandhian style peaceful protest in Pamba.
The temple, located on the mountain ranges of the ecologically-fragile Western Ghats, opens later in the evening for the first time after the recent Supreme Court judgement.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said no one would be allowed to block devotees from proceeding to Sabarimala. Groups of women devotees, including senior citizens, clad in traditional sarees, had stopped each and every vehicle at Nilackal yesterday.
Besides private vehicles, devotees even stopped and inspected Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses and asked young women to get down from them.
Very few police personnel were present when the incidents happened. The protesting women had said no woman belonging to the banned age group of 10-50 will be allowed to travel further from Nilackal and offer worship at the temple. The temple would be closed 22 October after the five-day monthly prayer during the Malayalam month of Thulam.