Kerala

04 Jan 2019; AFP: Police in southern India said Friday that a third woman has entered a flashpoint temple, stoking tensions after two days of clashes involving Hindu hardliners and police.

The Sabarimala temple in Kerala state has been at the centre of a prolonged showdown since India's top court overturned in September a ban on women aged 10 to 50 setting foot inside.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 3; PTI: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Thursday lashed out at the BJP and the RSS over protests against the entry of two women into the Sabarimala temple, saying the violence unleashed by them will be dealt with strongly.

Vijayan said the two women were not "airdropped" to Sabarimala but went as normal devotees and the other pilgrims did not protest.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 3 (PTI): With media personnel being attacked at various districts during the 12 hour hartal by saffron outfits against entry of two women in their 40s into Sabarimala temple,the Kerala Union of Working Journalists Thursday decided to boycott BJP and Sabarimala Karma Samithi.

The press meets called by BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai and Samithi leader K P Sasikala were boycotted by the media this afternoon in protest against the widespread attacks faced by them since Wednesday afternoon.

03 Jan 2019; AFP: One person was killed and at least 15 injured in violence across southern India's Kerala state which broke out after two women defied traditionalists to enter one of Hinduism's holiest temples, police said Thursday.

Clashes were reported across the state after the two women activists, escorted by police, entered the Sabarimala temple in a surprise pre-dawn operation on Wednesday.

02 Jan 2019; DW: Indian police used tear gas and stun grenades in clashes against Hindu worshipers in the state of Kerala. The protesters are enraged that two women of child-bearing age had entered a temple of the celibate god Ayyappa.

Religiously fueled protests escalated in the Indian state of Kerala on Wednesday, with police charging Hindu worshipers with batons and using tear gas, water cannon and stun grenades to disperse rioters in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.

Hyderabad, Jan 2 (PTI) The Communist Party of India (CPI) appeared to disapprove of two women of menstruating age group entering the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala "secretly" on Wednesday and said it should have been done "openly".

"Generally, we want women's entry (into the Sabarimala shrine), but we don't want something secretly to be done. It is to be done openly, everybody should accept, that's our view," CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said.

02 Jan 2019; AFP: The high priest of one of India's holiest temples carried out a "purification ritual" on Wednesday after two women defied Hindu traditionalists to sneak inside for the first time since a landmark court ruling.

The Supreme Court in September overturned a decades-old ban on women of menstruating age -- deemed as those between 10 and 50 -- setting foot inside the gold-plated Sabarimala temple.

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 1 (PTI) In a first, over 35 lakh women stood shoulder-to-shoulder across the national highways in Kerala, creating a 620 km-long human 'wall' from the northern end of Kasaragod to the southern tip here Tuesday as part of a state-sponsored initiative to uphold gender equality.

The event comes days after thousands of devotees lit 'Ayyappa Jyothis' (lighting of sacred lamps) and lined up from Hosangadi in Kasaragod to Kanyakumari, vowing to protect the age-old customs and traditions of Sabarimala.

Kannur, Dec 30 (PTI) Police intensified combing operations on Sunday following reports that four suspected Maoists appeared at Ambayathod in Kannur district, raised slogans and pasted posters, police said.

Talking to reporters, Kannur Superintendent of Police, Siva Vikram, said three of the Maoists were armed and have been identified.

"A thorough search operation was conducted in Kannur, Wyanad and Kozhikode districts. A case has also been registered. We are planning a larger operation jointly," he said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 22; GANASHAKTI: Criticising the Centre's decision to authorise 10 agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt data contained in any computer system, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Saturday said the order was an "attack" on individual freedom and the Right to Privacy.

Vijayan said it was even more "disturbing" that the media, members of legislatures and even judiciary have not been excluded from the ambit of the order.