In the wake of the Sabarimala controversy, Kerala witnessed a rather massive uprising of women in the state.
Lakhs of women from various parts of the state gathered to form a 620-km-long ‘Wall of equality’ symbolic of upholding renaissance values and demanding gender equality.
The organisers of the state-sponsored Vanitha Mathil estimate that about 30-50 lakh women participated in the building of the human wall that stretched from Kasargod in the north to Thiruvananthapuram in the south of the state.
At about 4 pm on January 1, 2019, women gathered in huge numbers to form the wall.
Women’s wall in Kerala also saw overwhelming support from London and from Mumbai, where similar versions of the wall were formed.
The Sabarimala controversy continues to keep Kerala on its toes. Despite Supreme Court’s orders, women between the ages of 10-50 have been unsuccessful in entering the temple due to the large number of protests. A large number of worshippers continue to believe that women belonging to the aforementioned age bracket should not be allowed in the temple.
Diametrically opposite to them, there are people who support the decision of the Supreme Court and believe that everyone – irrespective of age and gender – should be able to worship the lord.
The formation of the wall by women was symbolic of the struggle for equal rights. It received both praise and backlash for its agenda.
The Sabarimala issue is no longer an issue of the law, it is a debate between faith and equality. It looks like it will take its own time to actually settle down and for things to be sorted out.