Violent clashes have broken out in the Indian state of Kerala after two women defied traditionalists to enter an ancient Hindu temple.
The Sabarimala temple, one of the holiest sites in Hinduism, had been closed to women of menstruating age until a landmark court ruling overturned the ban last year.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The restriction reflects a belief that menstruating women are impure, it says.
But two women made history by entering the temple yesterday, escorted by police officers in the early hours of the morning.
Video images circulating on social media show the women, Bindu Ammini, 40, and Kanaka Durga, 39, entering the temple at dawn.
“Watching the visuals of them making their way into the shrine makes me cry in joy – how long it has taken for us to claim space, to write our way into history,” feminist author Meena Kandasamy tweeted.
But the move has angered BJP politicians who have called on conservative Hindu groups to take to the streets for two days of protests, Reuters reports.
Violent clashes were reported yesterday outside the state parliament in Kerala's state capital Thiruvananthapuram, with police using tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon to disperse demonstrators.
The milestone came a day after millions of women formed a series of human chains that stretched up to 385 miles in protest against the refusal to allow women onto the holy site.
-
The Olympic timekeepers keeping the Games on trackUnder the Radar Swiss watchmaking giant Omega has been at the finish line of every Olympic Games for nearly 100 years
-
Will increasing tensions with Iran boil over into war?Today’s Big Question President Donald Trump has recently been threatening the country
-
Corruption: The spy sheikh and the presidentFeature Trump is at the center of another scandal
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
