Lawyer fighting for women devotees at Sabarimala temple in Kerala gets 500 threat calls

Thiruvananthapuram: Naushad Ahmed Khan, the lawyer who is seeking entry for all women and girls in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, on Friday informed the Supreme Court that he has received 500 threatening phone calls.

The Sabarimala temple, as a practice, does not allow girls after attaining puberty to enter the premises. However, women, who have crossed menopause, are allowed.

 

The president of the Indian Young Lawyers' Association (IYLA) said he received the calls which threatened to blow up his house and warned him to drop his petition in the apex court.

The court, however, said PIL petitions could not be revoked. The court also said that it would appoint an Amicus Curiae.

Judges also said that they will take a decision on Monday as regards what sort of security should be provided to Khan.

On January 11, the Supreme Court had ruled that no temple can bar the entry of women devotees -- except on the basis of religion.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and NV Ramana has sought clarification on the Sabrimala Ayyappa Temple's custom of prohibiting the entry of women between the age of 10 and 50 years.

The ruling immediately divided the faithful into two camps -- those who want to retain the present system and those who want that women of all age groups should be allowed entry into the Sabarimala temple.

 

Situated on the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats at 914 metres above sea level, the Sabarimala temple is four kilometres uphill from Pamba river in Pathanamthitta district, around 100 km from Thiruvananthapuram.

The temple, which bars the entry of women who have attained puberty, is accessible only on foot from Pamba.

Till a few years back, it was open only for two months -- from mid-November to mid-January. Now it is kept open for five days every month. It draws millions of devotees, mainly from southern India.