Bindu Ammini, one of the two women who first entered the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala shrine, called the Supreme Court's decision to make a 7-judge bench look at the Sabarimala case "disappointing and politically motivated".
Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga, both in their forties, entered Sabarimala on January 2, 2019, after an unsuccessful attempt on December 24, 2018.
On Thursday, the SC kept the review petitions pending and said the larger bench will re-hear the entire case, challenging women’s entry into Sabarimala temple, once again. Bindu Ammini says the final verdict “might turn out to be like the Ayodhya judgment” in which the court 'toes the majoritarian view'.
“It’s strange and surprising that the review pleas have been referred to a larger bench. I strongly feel this might turn out to be another Ayodhya judgment, that is, a politically motivated verdict, which can potentially destroy the secular fabric and the constitutional values of our country. It does not augur well for the country when the courts become political, and when judiciary is politically coloured,” Bindu told TNM.
Bindu also told TNM that she agreed with Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice RF Nariman who stuck to their judgment in September 2018, allowing entry of women. "This will take years again for the court to reach a conclusion," she said.
While pronouncing the judgment, CJI Ranjan Gogoi said the larger bench will also look into other issues like entry of Muslim women into mosques and the entry of Parsi women who married non-Parsis into the tower of silence. Countering this, Bindu said, "The court is supposed to deliberate on matters that is before it. When matters of other religions or worship places are not part of this matter, why should that be combined with Sabarimala?"
Kanakadurga, meanwhile said that she is firm on her views that women’s entry into the temple is a democratic right and that further reactions can be made only after the verdict by the 7-judge bench.
“I feel this is a politically-driven decision. The 7-judge bench verdict may take years, but let it come,” she said.
Expressing her dissatisfaction with the decision by the SC, Kanakadurga said, “Whatever the verdict is, I am sure progressive women will fight it legally.”
Bindu Ammini is a lawyer and was a student activist. Kanakadurga was an employee with the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation from Angadipuram in Malappuram district. Both women were forced to go into hiding after they successfully entered the temple. Kanakadurga was even thrown out of her own house and both women moved the Supreme Court, seeking police protection.
After her entry, Kanakadurga was admitted in hospital as she was attacked by her mother-in-law for entering the shrine.
It was on September 28, 2018, that the Supreme Court lifted the ban on the entry of women between the ages 10 and 50 into the Sabarimala temple.
(With inputs from Haritha John)