PATHANAMTHITTA: District authority of Pathanmthitta is preparing for implementing strict actions at Sabarimala following the attack on women journalists and young female Ayyappa devotees by hordes of Hindu right activists who besieged the road leading to the Sabarimala temple which was opened for women of menstrual age Wednesday evening for the first time after the Supreme Court's verdict. The district authority has declared 144 at Sannidhanam, Pampa, Nilakkal and Ilavunkal. Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973 empowers an executive magistrate to prohibit an assembly of more than four persons in an area.

However, 144 is not applicable to devotees. 144 has not been declared in Sabarimala previously.

An embattled Left Front government reacted sharply to the protests, with the state's religious trusts minister Kadakampally Surendran calling them "politically motivated".

Surendran, who reviewed the situation and preparations for the three-month-long Mandalam-Makaravilakku-festival beginning November 17 at Sannidhanam (Sabarimala temple complex), said the government would tackle the agitation politically.
"The BJP-RSS are trying to create tension and destroy the peaceful atmosphere in Kerala for political gain. We know the agenda of the RSS and BJP very well," he said, and insisted the government did not want any confrontation with believers.
Just before his arrest, Easwar, the president of Ayyappa Dharma Sena, said the protests would be "non-violent, non-communal and non-political".
Easwar, who was kept at the Pamba police station, said Ayyappa devotees only wanted their right under Article 25 of the Constitution that provided for freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion to be protected.