The standoff at Sabarimala stains India's progress on women's rights
In India, they tell us that women can be fighter-jet pilots, corporate CEOs, paratroopers, athletes and prime minister, writes Barkha Dutt in The Washington Post, January 3, 2019. But God forbid women dare to argue that, in 2019, menstruation should not bar them from praying at a temple.
In early January, a 620-kilometer “women’s wall” made up of an estimated 5 million protesters drew global attention to the shame unfolding at the Sabarimala shrine in Kerala. For more than two months, there have been violent protests and riots over the entry of women at Sabarimala. According to mythology, Lord Ayyappa, the deity at the 800-year-old temple, was a bachelor god who took a vow of celibacy and set clear rules for the pilgrimage to seek his blessings. And thus, by custom, women in their reproductive years must keep away, Dutt notes.
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