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Kerala women stage a wall to uphold gender equality, renaissance values
Lakhs of women across Kerala lined up from one end of the state to the other to form a women’s wall on Tuesday to uphold gender equality and renaissance values.
Lakhs of women across Kerala lined up from one end of the state to the other to form a women’s wall on Tuesday to uphold gender equality and renaissance values. They also took a pledge not to push the state back into an era of darkness again.
Though the 620-km-long women wall was organised against the backdrop of growing protests in Sabarimala hill temple after the ruling Left Front government decided to implement the Supreme Court order allowing women of all ages to worship at the temple, it did not find any mention in the pledge. Organisers said more than three million women participated in the wall and it will soon get into Guinness book of world records.
Though over two dozen women tried to trek to the temple after the order, their attempts were foiled by angry devotees.
State health minister K K Shailaja led the wall at Kasargode (north Kerala) and CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat was the last person at the end of the wall in Thiruvananthapuram.
“It is a historic day for the women of the state. Some forces are out to push the state again to the dark era but women won’t allow this,” said Brinda Karat while addressing a public meeting after the wall was formed.
Many women artists and well known writers also participated in the programme. Activist Swami Agnivesh expressed solidarity with the women at the state capital. The decision to organise a wall was taken in a meeting of various Hindu organisations convened by the state government last month.
Though the government said it was a move aimed at protecting renaissance values and uphold gender equality, the opposition Congress and BJP dubbed it as a “communal wall”.
Last week, the BJP and other right wing groups opposing women entry in Sabarimala had organised an “Ayyappa Jyoti” (lighting of oil lamps) to counter the women’s wall.
Besides coalition partners of the ruling LDF, 176 socio-cultural bodies also participated in the event. But the Nair Service Society, a body of upper caste Nairs, kept away from the function.
“Women’s wall will turn Kerala into the Devil’s Country as the state government has employed a double standard on Sabarimala issue,” tweeted NSS general secretary Sukumaran Nair.
The wall has its share of controversies since the idea was conceived last month.
“It is a bundle of contradictions. It gives an impression that Christians and Muslims were not part of renaissance movement in Kerala,” said opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, adding that it will divide the state on caste and communal lines. Earlier Kerala High Court had asked the government not to force women to work and exclude children from the event.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier said the event, held along the national highway, will be a show of strength against the regressive section of the state that took to the street, protesting the government decision to implement the Supreme Court verdict.
He also lashed out at the Nair Service Society, a body of upper caste Nairs, for its stand on the “women’s wall”, saying, “Those who participated in the ‘Ayyappa Jyothi’ (lighting of traditional lamp) must self-introspect whether it is right for an organisation, which was part of the renaissance movement in Kerala, to join hands with the RSS. This shows their double standards.”
