Kozhikode: A woman teacher is facing backlash after it was known that she had made a vain bid to visit the Sabarimala temple on October 22.
Bindu Thankam Kalyani, formerly a teacher with Medical College Campus Higher Secondary School, Kozhikode, faced protests in front of her school from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and other right-wing personnel, from the very next day onward. She was transferred to a higher secondary school at Agali from Kozhikode last month.
On Monday, protesters under the banner of Karma Samithi took out a protest march from the Ayyappa temple in Agali to the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, where she teaches now.
Bindu had joined the new school in Palakkad district on October 29 and thereafter she has been facing verbal attack from her students for her attempt to go to Sabarimala. The Samithi is reportedly circulating pamphlets, asking the believers not to let her continue with her job at Agali. They also claim to have informed the school 'their dissent over her continuing as a teacher in the school that has many students who are Ayyappa devotees'.
“The students were chanting 'Sarana mantras' whenever they see me inside the class or on the school verandah. None of them were going to Sabarimala or observing the abstinence. Later our principal called them and openly told them in the assembly meeting that those who want to chant can do so from their house and not inside the school. I have informed the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) also about the procession and they have also offered support,” Bindu said.
Suspect police action
Bindu tried to go to Sabarimala soon after the Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all age groups to enter Sabarimala. She was accompanied by two of her friends and all of them were stopped, soon after they crossed Erumely in Kottayam.
The teacher said that they had informed the police as they anticipated protest and it was the cops who took them to station at Mundakayam, offering protection. “For more than two hours from 10 am they held us back at the police station. Police took our mobile phones to verify and we did not have any means to communicate with the outside world. However, as soon as we got our phones back, my friends from Kozhikode called me and said they came to know from news channels that we were at the Mundakayam police station. How was that possible when only the police had knowledge of our journey?” She wondered.
Bindu alleged that it was some officers in the police department who gave minute-by-minute update to some media houses regarding the young women devotees attempting to go to Sabarimala. “I still don't believe it was devotees who obstructed our journey from Mundakayam. The police had warned that there were protesters outside and we should rush back and called us to board their vehicle and escape. I believe that some in the police department want to prevent women from going to Sabarimala, else they need not leak every information,” she added.
Bindu is also apprehensive about timely police action now too as protests are held before the school.
"I informed the police station that pamphlets are being circulated in the name of Attappady Karma Samithi that I should go back. But their response was cold. I don't think they would do anything so that I can continue working safely here,” Bindu said.
When Onmanorama contacted Thiruvanthapuram Range IG Manoj Abraham, he said that the department will probe into the allegations levelled by Bindu.
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