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.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
