Former Devaswom Board President Prayar Gopalakrishnan said that allowing women of all ages into Sabarimala is going to “turn it into Thailand.”
The ex-Devaswom President was speaking at the Pathanamthitta Press Club on October 12th, Friday.
Speaking of the Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to enter Sabarimala temple, Sabarimala Prayar Gopalakrishnan said, “I won’t tell any sister to not enter Sabarimala. Whoever wants to come are welcome. But if you come you can get caught by a tiger or man,” alluding that the women devotees cannot complain if they are harassed or abused by men during the pilgrimage.
“If young women are allowed to enter Sabarimala, I will not be ready to enter Thailand (according to him, Sabarimala will turn into Thailand if women are allowed). The aura or power of Lord Ayyappa will be diminished,” he said.
Prayar Gopalakrishnan is not the only public figure in Kerala to criticise the verdict with regressive and highly sexist comments. Last week, actor Kollam Thulasi, speaking at a public rally, said that women who enter Sabarimala should be “ripped apart”. Thulasi is a member of the BJP and was their candidate during the 2015 polls.
"Women should be ripped apart; one half should be sent to Delhi and another to the Kerala Chief Minister," Thulasi was heard saying. He even went to the extent of saying that the four judges who delivered the judgment on Sabarimala are idiots.
“The mothers (elderly woman) taking part in the protest against the judgment should go to Sabarimala. Then those women should rip apart the ones who try to enter the temple," he said. He has now been booked for his remarks.
The September 28 verdict of the Supreme Court lifting the ban on women’s entry in Sabarimala has triggered a huge debate. Massive rallies are being staged in Kerala against the verdict and a review petition has been filed at the Supreme Court in October, to reconsider the verdict.
While several opposition parties such as the BJP, the INC and other groups such as the Nair Service Society and RSS have organised rallies to protest against the verdict, the government has been staunch in its support for the verdict and are building infrastructure to accommodate women devotees in Sabarimala.