Why women activists in Kerala are up in arms about a mountain they can’t climb

Women activists are battling the LDF government for their right to scale the peak of Agasthyarkoodam, trekking to which has been prohibited to women and children under the age of 14

Written by Vishnu Varma | Kochi | Updated: January 1, 2018 7:45 pm

A recent notification by the state’s forest department banned the entry of women for the 2018 trekking season to the Agasthyarkoodam peak. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The fight for gender justice in Kerala continues in 2018. Even as the Supreme Court deliberates on the entry of women of menstrual age into the Sabarimala temple, there is another fight brewing in the state. Women activists are battling the LDF government for their right to scale the peak of Agasthyarkoodam, a mountain range near Thiruvananthapuram, trekking to which has been prohibited to women and children under the age of 14 on account of safety concerns and the opposition by the local tribal community.