New Delhi:
Public vehicles remained off the road as special security arrangements were put in place in view of the hartal called by several Hindu outfits in Kerala against the Supreme Court decision allowing women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala temple. The strike will begin on Thursday. A Kerala State Road Transport Corporation bus was attacked in Malappuram in the morning.
In the meantime, the All-Kerala Brahmins Association moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of the verdict that allowed entry of women of all ages in the sabarimala Temple. The plea said that the verdict suffered from several serious errors that have resulted in a “grave miscarriage of justice” for actual devotees of Ayyappa.
The Sabarimala Samarakashna Samithi, an outfit of devotees, has called the hartal to protest the ‘police lathicharge’ against Lord Ayyappa devotees at Nilakkal, the base camp of Lord Ayappa shrine in Sabarimala on Wednesday.
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The Antharashtriya Hindu Parishad led by Parvin Togadia has also called for a hartal demanding that the CPI-M led LDF government promulgate a law to get around the apex court verdict.
The Kerala DGP ordered the cyber cell to register cases against people who were spreading religious hatred posts on social media related to incidents of violence in Nilakkal and Pamba.
Security has been beefed up at various locations, including Pamba, Nilakkal, Erumeli en route to the Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district, officials said.
Police have also promulgated section 144 of CrPc in four places including Pamba, Sannidhanam to check any kind of protest and violence. However, private vehicles were plying in some areas.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its partners have extended support to the hartal call.
The Congress said it will hold protest demonstrations across the state on Thursday, but would not join the hartal call.
On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench of the SC headed by then chief justice Dipak Misra lifted the centuries-old ban on the entry of women of menstrual age into the shrine.
