Comrade Ayyapan’s Celibacy

This story revolves around the controversial 2018 Sabarimala verdict of the Supreme Court and its fallout on Kerala’s society seen through the lens of an expatriate Malayali family’s dinner table conversation. The verdict, lifted the ban on entry of women of menstruating age into the hill shrine whose deity according to legends is celibate. While supporters hailed it as similar to the earlier historic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Entry_Proclamation" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Travancore temple entry proclamation of 1936</a> that granted access to members of Scheduled Castes, opponents condemned it as an attack on their faith, religious freedom and identity. While there were voices of reason and rationale on both sides, what stood out was the poison of intolerance, sensationalism and violence that unexpectedly unleashed itself into Kerala’s civic life. In many ways for me, my parents’ vitriolic argument taking the two sides of the Sabarimala issue was a reflection of what was happening to Kerala’s society back home.  <a href="https://medium.com/project-democracy/comrade-ayyapans-celibacy-f6d63165b8b1">Click Here</a>