Kerala women’s wall: Some bat for gender equality, others take a contradictory stand

In line with the attempts of the ruling Left government in Kerala to project a progressive and liberal outlook on gender issues, lakhs of women turned up across the 14 districts of the state to stand alongside each other as part of the 'vanitha mathil' or women's wall programme on Tuesday.

kerala women's wall, women wall, kerala wall, vanitha mathil, sabarimala row, sabarimala temple, women entry, sabarimala issue, lord ayyappa temple,indian express — Lakhs of women turned up across the 14 districts of the state to stand alongside each other as part of the ‘vanitha mathil’ or women’s wall programme on Tuesday. (Express Photo)

In line with the attempts of the ruling Left government in Kerala to project a progressive and liberal outlook on gender issues, lakhs of women turned up across the 14 districts of the state to stand alongside each other as part of the ‘vanitha mathil’ or women’s wall programme on Tuesday.

Minister for Health and Family Welfare KK Shailaja became the starting point of the women’s wall in northern Kasaragod district while Politburo member and senior CPM leader Brinda Karat stood as the concluding link of the wall in the southern tip of Thiruvananthapuram district. The entire ruling LDF cabinet, senior leadership of the CPM-led coalition, leaders of community organisations like the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam, which represents the Hindu Ezhava community, those of the Punnala Sreekumar faction of the Kerala Pulaya Mahasabha, representing the SC community, Left-aligned intellectuals, writers, thinkers, activists and actors participated in the movement.

The idea of the women’s wall took shape in the backdrop of the protests around entry of women at the hill shrine in Sabarimala. The ruling CPM-led government has backed the entry of women of all ages and stressed the legal responsibility of the government to abide by the top court verdict on the matter. The women’s wall has been envisaged as a counter to the RSS-BJP campaign behind the Sabarimala protests where the latter has taken a position backing the traditions of the temple which do not favour the entry of women of menstruating age. Through the programme, the ruling Left parties have indicated their intention to stand on the right side of history, to hold aloft the renaissance values and ideologies that shaped the social reform movements of Kerala.