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Clashes erupted Wednesday in India, as the traditionalists were trying to prevent women from visiting one of the holiest temples of Hinduism, police waving batons indicting protesters who throwing stones.
Faithful supporters of women's permission to enter the Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala, Kerala state, in the south of the country, had previously surrounded and intimidated journalists, including one from AFP.
Two other women journalists were reportedly injured. Even before the police were charged, blood ran on the faces of several people, which seemed to indicate that further clashes had taken place.
Last month, the Supreme Court of India overturned the ban on all women of menstruation – between the ages of 10 and 50 – from entering and praying at the hilltop temple.
These rabid traditionalists, including supporters of the Hindu Nationalist Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party, of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demonstrated in front of thousands of people in the days leading up to the opening Wednesday afternoon.
The Kerala state government announced that it would enforce the court's decision and deploy an additional 500 police officers to ensure free access to the remote complex, culminating in a difficult trekking that takes several hours.
In Nilackal, a base camp under the temple, police cleared protesters early Wednesday morning and arrested seven people who stopped vehicles.
"Anyone who wants to go to the temple can do it without hindrance," said police chief Manoj Abraham.
"Severe measures will be taken against all those who prevent the faithful from going to Sabarimala," Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Tuesday.
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A 45-year-old woman identified as Madhavi who wanted to enter the temple for the first time abandoned her attempt after activists prevented her from climbing the hill, the Press Trust of India reported.
Although the police provided protection for the woman and her family and allowed them to move further, they gave up on agitated activists, PTI reported.
Biju S. Pillai, a man in his thirties, was one of those who opposed the court 's decision. He told AFP that he had returned from Dubai to "protect the sanctity of the temple" with his mother and young son.
"No one should be able to change the functioning of this temple for centuries," he said. "If changes are made, they will have to kill us and review our bodies."
"I am here to protest the decision of the Supreme Court," said engineer Anisha S., 23, a member of a group chanting religious slogans. "We want to save our traditions, Ayyappa must be respected."
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Women are allowed to enter most Hindu temples, but some worshipers are still barred.
Two years ago, activists successfully led a campaign to end the ban on women entering Shani Shingnapur Temple in the state of Maharashtra.
Women were also allowed to enter the Haji Ali Dargah mausoleum in Mumbai, a Muslim place of worship, after the Supreme Court overturned a ban in 2016.
The entry of women to Sabarimala was a taboo for a long time, but it was formalized by the Kerala High Court in 1991, a decision that was overturned by the Supreme Court of India last month.
The restriction reflected an old but still prevalent belief among many that menstruating women were unclean, and the fact that Ayyappa deity was deemed to have been single.
Senior Sabarimala priest Kandararu Maheshwararu Tantri, 25, warned this week that "anger could easily escalate into violence if some selfish women tried to enter."
"I say ego, because no believer who believes in Sabarimala will try to break the 2,100-year-old rule … Moreover, there are other women in the temples. Ayyappa that women can visit, "said the Times of India.
He claimed to have the support of several "scientists" who agreed with the idea that "positive energy" in a temple could be polluted by the entry of women into menstruation.
burs-bb / stu / gle
