The violent scenes witnessed on Wednesday at Nilackal, base camp of Sabarimala, came as a dampener for Shinu Shyamalan, who was jubilant after the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to the shrine. The 29-year-old doctor had a keen desire to visit Sabarimala, where she had gone as a child.
She now knows that even expressing that opinion openly can invite abusive attacks and threats, as she discovered recently after a Facebook post. “I received quite a lot of abusive comments after making that post and appearing in a television debate.... I will certainly visit Sabarimala when the atmosphere is peaceful and safety is guaranteed,” she says.
About the women protesting against the verdict and proudly calling themselves “impure,” she said that we have had a history of women even coming out against being allowed to cover their breasts and tearing away the clothes of those who dared to do that.
For writer Suneetha Balakrishnan, the verdict has come a little too late. “When I really wanted to go to Sabarimala, the discriminatory rules did not permit it. Now that the rules have been done away with, my knee issues make it impossible for me to make the long trek.”
C.S. Libi, one of the few women of menstrual age who managed to reach Pamba clad in a black attire on Wednesday, had to turn back under police protection after protesters heckled and abused her.
She had earlier announced in a Facebook post that she, an atheist, was travelling to the shrine with two believers.