Women right activist Trupti Desai on Friday said that she will go to Sabarimala temple after November 20 regardless of whether she would be provided protection by the Kerala government or not.
"I will go to Sabarimala after November 20. We will seek protection from the Kerala government and it is up to them to give us protection or not. Even if not provided with protection, I will visit Sabarimala for the darshan," said Trupti Desai.
Ahead of the opening of the Sabarimala Temple, Kerala Devaswom Board Minister K Surendran on Friday said the state government will not provide protection to any woman visiting the temple and those who need protection should get an order from the Supreme Court.
He also asserted that activists like Trupti Desai should not see the shrine as a place to show their strength.
"The state government will not provide protection to any woman visiting Sabarimala temple. Activists like Trupti Desai should not see Sabarimala as a place to show their strength. If she needs police protection, she should get an order from the Supreme Court," he told reporters at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram.
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The minister's remarks came after a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had on November 14 referred a clutch of petitions seeking review of its order which paved the way for the entry of women into Sabarimala temple in Kerala to a larger seven-judge bench by a majority 3:2 ruling.
A Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi had passed the order on a series of petitions seeking reconsideration of its September 2018 judgment that lifted the bar on menstruating women from worshipping in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
The review petitions challenged the authority of the apex court to intervene in the belief of the people. It argued that the temple deity is a "Brahmachari" (celibate) and "centuries-old beliefs" should not be disturbed by the entry of menstruating women worshippers.