Sabarimala Issue doesn’t give the impression that it is going to be settled anytime soon and more and more eminent personalities are making their opinion about the issue. Historian Ramachandra Guha is the latest to voice his opinion about the controversy and he did it while speaking at the Bangalore Literature Festival on Saturday during his session ‘Is There an Indian Road to Equality?
Ramachandra Guha found similarities in the current movement with the Dalit movements in the 1920s where Dalits sought entry into the temple which was only reserved for the elites.
“90 years ago, Dalits could not enter temples in Kerala, but this was challenged by social reformers like Narayana Guru and in the mid-1920s, there was a temple entry satyagraha in a temple in Vaikom. A member of the priestly caste, an OBC and a Dalit walked hand in hand into the temple. When they were beaten up, three others took their place. This started the temple entry movement across India”.
“Equality in the eyes of God is much more important in India than it is in western democracies, which are largely secular. India is a land suffused with religiosity, ritual worship and the desire to visit sacred places. In this particular sphere, Dalits have made more progress than women,” he said in his address.
Guha said that it will take a lot of courage and doggedness for women to be able to enter Sabarimala and even get into positions like that of a temple priest. He added that it is high time women were granted equality before the eyes of the God.
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