Sabarimala row: Faith brought Hindus together, say protesters

“Most of our activists in the committee are mothers, who wanted to ensure the sanctity of the hill shrine. This may be the first time in the recent history of Kerala that we are witnessing a huge turnout of mothers. The men have come to give security to the agitating mothers,’’ he said.

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Sabarimala protests: A large mob of protesters, in the guise of agitating peacefully, was allowed to assemble at Nilakkal. (Express Photo: Vishnu Varma)

Kumar said, “faith has brought every Hindu to this platform”. “Except CPM, all other parties, including the Congress, are backing the agitation led by the action committee. It is not politics that has brought the people together, but religion and faith. To prevent rift among the agitators, we have avoided slogans. Instead, people are only chanting Ayyappa keerthanams. We did not even use public address systems for the agitation.’’

Protesters, wearing yellow and saffron scarves and headbands, vented their ire on the media, assaulting women journalists and smashing windscreens of the vehicles in which they were travelling. (Express Photo: Vishnu Varma)

Kumar said the government was responsible for provoking the agitators. “The CPM and its feeder organisations wanted to forcibly take a few women to Sabarimala. This has provoked the agitators,” he said.