Sabarimala Karma Samiti Urges Media Houses To Not Depute Young Women Journalists To Cover Shrine Re-Opening

As the hill shrine opens for special pujas today (5 November), several Hindu outfits protesting against the Supreme Court verdict on 28 September that allowed women of reproductive age to enter the temple, have urged media houses not to depute women reporters to cover the issue, reports The Times of India.

Issued by Sabarimala Karma Samiti, a joint platform for the right-wing including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Hindu Aikyavedi, they have been staging protests since a Supreme Court ruling set aside the centuries-old tradition.

Earlier, when the temple was opened for conducting monthly pujas for the first time after the apex court ruling, several women reporters were stopped on their way when they tried to enter the temple.

A woman reporter from New York Times, as well as a journalist from Hyderabad who was escorted to the temple by the State police, were stopped from entering the temple and were sent back after strong protests by devotees, especially women.

Even the entry of women journalists aged between 10 and 50 would aggravate the already tense situation prevailing at the temple, the statement issued to editors of media houses said.