Sabarimala highlights: BJP worker dies in Kerala violence; 745 arrested

Reports say that at least 745 people were arrested till Thursday evening, while 628 people were taken into custody as a precaution

A dawn-to-dusk Kerala shutdown called to denounce the visit of two women to the Sabarimala temple saw major violence on Thursday, a rarity compared to the regular strikes the state witnesses from time to time. 

The Sabarimala Karma Samithi (SKS), which had the backing of the BJP and RSS, said it called the protest to oppose the role of the Kerala government which facilitated the entry of the two women inside the temple before dawn on Wednesday.

What began as minor skirmishes at various places between the strike organisers and its opponents aggravated during the day as more than 300 protesters were arrested, with nearly 100 people, including police officials, getting injured in the violence.    
 

ALSO READ: Kerala on the edge as mobs take to streets over women entering Sabarimala

The worst affected districts included Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kasargode and Kannur.

A number of CPI-M offices came under attack. In several places in the suburbs of the state capital, it was a free for all as rival factions took on one another. In Nedumangadu near Thiruvananthapuram, crude bombs were thrown at CPI-M offices while homes of CPI-M leaders were attacked.

While state-owned and private buses were off the road, private vehicles, mostly two-wheelers, plied. Private cars also operated in Thiruvananthapuram and other major cities in Kerala.
 

ALSO READ: Women in Sabarimala: A blow on behalf of reason and constitutional rights

Ten people in Kannur were arrested after they attacked vehicles that went past the BJP office.

At Pandalam in Alappuzha district, BJP and RSS activists took out a protest march after one of their supporters who was injured in stone throwing by CPI-M workers on Wednesday died late at night.

A CPI-M worker has been arrested and the wife of the deceased said the family does not believe a fair probe will happen.
 

ALSO READ: Two young women enter Sabarimala; Hindu groups resort to stone pelting 

Thursday also saw widespread attacks on the media, leaving many journalists, including women, injured and shaken.    

Here are live updates on Kerala hartal over Sabarimala temple row

11:11 PM

Ayyappa devotees stage protests in Karnataka

 

Devotees of Lord Ayyappa staged protests at several places across Karnataka on Thursday against the entry of two women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala temple in neighbouring Kerala. (Read more here) 

 

Meeting under the banner of the 'Sabarimala Samrakshana Vedike' (Save Sabarimala Forum), the protesters demanded Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's resignation over the incident. 

 

The protesters pointed out that Vijayan was not only a party leader but also the chief minister of a state and, hence, he should respect the religious sentiments of crores of Ayyappa devotees because India is a democratic country.

11:08 PM

Ayyappa devotees stage demonstrations in Hyderabad on Sabarimala issue

 

Groups of devotees of Lord Ayyappa held demonstrations on Thursday in different parts of the city in protest against the entry of two women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala. (Read more here) 

 

Holding placards that read "Save Sabarimala", the protesting devotees took out a rally in Saidabad area here and squatted on the road. 

 

They raised slogans against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and later also burnt his effigy.

8:41 PM

8:29 PM

Kerala media boycotts BJP, Hindu group for attacks on journos

 

With media personnel being attacked at various districts during the 12-hour hartal by saffron outfits against the entry of two women in their 40s into Sabarimala temple, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists on Thursday decided to boycott BJP and Sabarimala Karma Samithi. (Read more here)   

 

The press meets called by BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai and Samithi leader K P Sasikala were boycotted by the media this afternoon in protest against the widespread attacks faced by them since Wednesday afternoon. 

8:27 PM

The government transport system has claimed a loss of around Rs 3.35 crore as the protesters attacked around 100 buses in two days. The annual loss due to the attacks in Hartals for the transport corporation is around Rs 10 crore, said officials. 

8:26 PM

745 people arrested

Reports say that at least 745 people were arrested till Thursday evening, while 628 people were taken on custody as a precaution.  

8:25 PM

Hartal turns violent in Kerala, BJP worker dies

 

The protest, which followed after two women aged below 50 years entered the Sabarimala temple despite resistance from the Hindu outfits on Wednesday, has ended up in violence across the State and death of a BJP worker. (Read more here)   

7:03 PM

Sabarimala panel says special police protection to women would affect rights of pilgrims

 

A three-member panel appointed by the Kerala High Court to oversee the ongoing Sabarimala pilgrimage season has said granting special police protection to women in menstrual age to enter the Lord Ayyappa temple would adversely affect the rights and safety of other devotees. (Read more here)  

 

In a report submitted in the high court on Thursday, the committee referred to the incidents when police escorted 11 women activists of Manithi, a Chennai-based outfit, to Sabarimala on December 23 and two women on the next day and said this contributed to the long queue of pilgrims from the base camp at Pampa up to the place of hold up.

 

The December 25 report also said because of the incidents, devotees, including women and children, had to wait for hours together for getting darshan.

6:58 PM

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6:03 PM

Ten Hanuman Sena activists have urged the Union Home Ministry to take note of the incident, alleging that it had "hurt the sentiments of Hindus" and sought necessary action against the Kerala government. 

6:03 PM

In view of the one-day hartal in Kerala over the issue, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation suspended services to that state. About 25 bus services were cancelled, police said. 

6:03 PM

Fifteen members of the Bharatiya Janata Party lawyers' wing in Coimbatore burnt a portrait of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. They raised slogans against him for failing to maintain the shrine's "sanctity". 

6:03 PM

60 protesters held in TN over women's entry into Sabarimala

 

Sixty workers of a Tamil Nadu-based fringe Hindu outfit were arrested for trying to stage a 'rail-roko' on Thursday in protest against the entry of two women of menstruating age group into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, police said. (Read more here) 

 

The Hindu Makkal Katchi activists were prevented from staging the protest at a railway station in Coimbatore, the police said.