Sabarimala: Women have got justice, says Jayamala
Bengaluru: Women and Child Development Minister Jayamala, who stoked controversy some years ago claiming that she had entered the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala, hailed the Friday’s Supreme Court verdict on allowing women into the shrine.
“There is nothing that has made me happier in life. I thank women, the Supreme Court judges, God and Ambedkar, the author of our Constitution,” she said. “We knew this verdict would come, under law and Constitution. I’m grateful to the judges. Women have got justice. This is a historic moment.”
In June 2006, Jayamala was in the eye of a storm when she claimed that she entered the temple in 1986 and even touched the deity’s feet.This, despite the bar on women aged 10-50 from entering the temple. In 2010, the Kerala police filed charges against her and others under Section 295 of Indian Penal Code, stating that they were involved in “a deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings”
“Back then, I believed in God and the Judiciary. That belief has come true today,” she said, referring to that controversy. Asked about opposition to the apex court verdict from some quarters, she said: “God will protect.”
