Arrested for Sabarimala remark, Rahul Easwar was earlier in news for supporting Hadiya

Easwar belongs to the Thazhamon family of Sabarimala tantris (priests) and was among those who spearheaded the protests in Sabarimala. As the president of the ‘Ayyappa Dharma Sena’, Easwar had said they had a contingency plan to force the closure of the temple by spilling blood on its premises by some devotees in case any woman in the ‘barred’ age group managed to reach it.

Read | Sabarimala row: Activist Rahul Easwar arrested for ‘ready to spill blood’ remark

An alumnus of the London School of Economics, Easwar has appeared often on TV debates as a panelist, most recently to defend the ban on women between the age of 10-50 on entering the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala.

On social media, he describes himself as “Gandhian, Centre Right, Pro-Hindu, Pro-Christian, Pro-Muslim; Pro-INDIA, Proud Hindu”. He has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to support his campaign to “Save Sabarimala” and “Save Hindus” and has extended his gratitude to the BJP, RSS and Amit Shah for their support in the protests against the apex court verdict.

A right-wing activist, Easwar has been in news before too, when he shared pictures of himself with Hadiya and released controversial ‘love jihad tapes’ where she is seen arguing with her mother over her rights to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim. ‘Love Jihad’ is a term coined by right-wing outfits to describe marriages of Hindu women with Muslim men, alleging forced conversions of women to Islam.

In March 2017, the Kerala High Court had annulled the marriage of Hadiya, born Akhila Shokan, to Shafin Jahan, after her father had alleged his daughter was forced to convert. The Supreme Court, in March this year, overturned the order.

Easwar had then supported Hadiya and her decision to marry out of her own choice, inviting much ire from her father who filed a complaint against him for releasing the video and breaching his trust. Knowing that he belongs to the family of the Sabarimala tantri, Hadiya’s father had permitted him to speak to her. He later accused Easwar of being a tool of “terrorist organisations” to convince the world that Hadiya continues to live as Muslim, reported The News Minute.

In 2015, Easwar’s car was damaged and his path blocked by some students after he refused to lend support to a ‘beef festival’ being organised in various colleges in Kerala to protest against the Dadri lynching incident. On the basis of a complaint lodged by Easwar, police registered a case against 25 students of the Milad E Sherif Memorial College in Kayamkulam.