High drama at Sabarimala as woman blocked by frenzied protesters
Sabarimala, Nov 6 : Clapping and chanting 'Ayyappa saranam', about 200 frenzied devotees surrounded a woman pilgrim on Tuesday to prevent her from entering the Sabarimala shrine, suspecting her to be of menstrual age.
The 52-year-old woman, identified as Lalitha from Tirur, had come to the temple with 19 relatives, including women, for her grandson's 'chorunnu' (rice giving ceremony).
She was near the 'nadapandal' -- the area just before devotees climb the 18 steps to reach the sanctum sanctorum -- when her group was blocked by the protesting mob. Police intervened and after ascertaining the woman's age informed the protesters that she was not in the 'barred' age group and escorted her away.
Local media channels said journalists were also heckled. However, police denied that any such incident took place.
The doors of Sabarimala had opened for six days on October 17 for the first time since the Supreme Court allowed women of menstruating age group to enter the shrine, but none could make it to its hallowed precincts amid a welter of protests and violent clashes.
Lalitha was later taken to a hospital after she complained of uneasiness.
However, after a while she and some of her relatives returned and offered prayers at the temple, which opened this morning for the "Sree Chitira Atta Thirunal" puja to mark the birth anniversary of the last king of the princely state of Travancore Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.
As they were speaking to media persons after the 'darshan', some of the protesters heckled them.
"We didn't expect such a situation," Lalitha said.
Girls below 10 years of age and women above 50 have frequently prayed at the temple in the past. However, the entry of women of all ages has become a sensitive issue after the Supreme Court verdict.
On Monday, a 30-year-old woman, who had reached the base camp at Pamba along with her husband and two children, went back early this morning without offering prayers.
She had told police that it was her husband who was keen that she should worship at the Ayyappa temple.
The Ayyappa temple here opened Monday for the second time in three weeks for a two-day special puja amid unprecedented security over apprehension of protests by those opposing the Supreme Court order allowing women of all age groups into the shrine.
Hundreds of police personnel, including armed commandos, are keeping a tight vigil in the temple complex and nearby areas to prevent any untoward incident.
Following the verdict, attempts by around a dozen women, including activists and journalists in the 10-50 years age group, to script history came to nought as frenzied devotees of Lord Ayyappa heckled and hassled them and forced them to retreat.
Both the Congress, the main opposition party in Kerala, and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is seeking to expand its footprint in the state, have lent support to the agitation against the Supreme Court verdict.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
