Hindu devotees wait in queues inside the premises of the Sabarimala temple in Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, India, October 18, 2018. REUTERS/Sivaram V

NILAKKAL, India- Conservative Hindu groups including youth members of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party returned to the Sabarimala temple on Thursday to block women from entering for a second day, in defiance of a court ruling that says banning them is illegal.

For centuries, the Sabarimala temple in Kerala has banned women and girls between the ages of 10 and 50 from entering the holy site. But last month, the Supreme Court ruled the ban infringed on the right to worship.

Since then, the case has become a focal point for women’s rights in India.

There were clashes between police and protesters when the temple opened for the first time since the ban was lifted on Wednesday, preventing women from entering.

Kerala’s secular state government says it wants to uphold the court’s decision, but Hindu groups, including branches of the BJP and its parent organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, say the court’s decision is offensive to worshippers.

“A large number of women, who follow the tradition, were not heard; their emotions weren’t respected,” RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat told a rally of supporters on Thursday.

In response, the state’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a tweet that the RSS and other Hindu groups “are obstructing believers and spreading terror”.

Reuters

posted on October 18, 2018