Plea for the entry of women to Sabarimala Ayyappa temple is reactionary, for it hardly goes well with the philosophy of women rights politics which converges on ecology, according to social commentator and academic Rajan Gurukkal.
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In a communication to The Hindu , Prof. Gurukkal, former Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University who is also a member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, said it was not accidental that women were the leaders of ecological movements the world over, including Kerala, and pointed out that the philosophy of women rights politics converged on ecology.
“Now the women staking claim for massive entry to Sabarimala, an enclave right inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve, facing major ecological damages due to the terrible flow of pilgrims far beyond the carrying capacity, is in utter contradiction to their basic philosophy,” he said.
It may be true that in legal terms Sabarimala entry for women cannot be barred under the pretext of conventional rites and rituals, for they were overlooked or relaxed in the past. Therefore, the argument that the entry by women in reproductive age will defile the temple because they cannot satisfy the mandatory 41 days purity observance due to the overlap of menstrual cycle may not stand. “However, it goes against the philosophy of women politics,” he said.
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In fact, women should lead a movement against the reckless promotion of male influx to Sabarimala ecosystem, rather than pleading for another substantial load in the name of Constitutional equality. “It is important to win the Constitutional rights to equality but that should not be for rights to get lost in fetters of false consciousness,” Prof. Gurukkal said.
Women rights activists should be critical of the patriarchal passions embedded in pilgrimages into forest temples like Sabarimala by upholding ecological values and passions, he added.
Rajan Gurukkal says it hardly goes well with philosophy of women rights politics which converges on ecology