Violent protests erupted across Kerala after two women in their forties entered Sabarimala temple, with a BJP worker, who was injured in violence at Pandalam, in Pathanamthitta district, succumbing to injuries late on Wednesday. The victim, Chandran Unnithan, was participating in a march organized by the Sangh Parivar-backed Sabarimala Action Council, which alleged that CPI(M) workers attacked the protest rally, leaving Unnithan seriously injured.
The Council, an umbrella outfit of Hindu organizations opposed to implementing the Supreme Court order that allows women of all ages to enter the hill shrine, has called for a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Kerala on Thursday. The BJP extended support to the hartal, the fourth state-wide strike over the issue since the SC order.
Joining the protests, the state Congress announced that it will observe Thursday as a “black day”.Protesting the young women’s entry, three devotees abandoned their pilgrimage at the base station Erumeli. Various universities, including Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi, Calicut, and Kannur have postponed their examinations scheduled for Thursday.