Women to protest on Republic Day
One doesn't necessarily have to be a woman to be part of the protest.
Thiruvananthapuram: Activists have chosen January 26 as the date for a protest against women being denied entry to Agastyakoodam. “The date is symbolic.
A group of women will be hoisting the flag at Bonacaud on the day,” says M. Sulfath, an active member of Women Integration and Growth through Sports (WINGS) Kerala.
One doesn’t necessarily have to be a woman to be part of the protest. Anyone who wishes to offer solidarity, can assemble at 6 am in front of the Secretariat. A bus will take them to the Forest Department’s base camp at Bonacaud.
This year, they were hopeful that women would be allowed to climb the mountain. The court had in fact given directives to the Forest Department to make it possible, according to Ms Sulfath. But the department was lax in carrying it out, she says. “The Department continues to say that it is for the safety and security of the women, that they are not allowed to climb it. But there is a religious angle to it. Something they won’t admit.
The trekking starts on ‘Makarajyothi’ and ends with ‘Sivaratri’, always,” she says. Will they climb? “One cannot say. Depends on what the group feels like at the moment,” Sulfath said.