Amid Sabarimala row, after Supreme Court allowed women of all ages to enter the shrine, Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday made a controversial remark saying that it is not respectful for women to visit a temple or shrine while she has her periods.
I have the right to pray but I do not have the right to desecrate. I am no one to speak on the Supreme Court’s verdict as I am currently a cabinet minister. However, simple common sense, would you take sanitary napkins seeped in menstrual blood to a friend’s home? You would not. Would you think that it is respectful to do the same when you walk into the house of God?” Union Minister Smriti Irani said while speaking in Mumbai at an event organised by the British High Commission and the Observer Research Foundation.
Irani’s comments on the matter come after a massive outrage among men in Kerala. Women journalists were attacked near the shrine, while women activists trying to enter the shrine faced harsh protests from the men.
While speaking at the event, Irani informed that she is married to a Zoroastrian, recalling an incident that she was not allowed to enter the temple.
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Earlier on September 28, Supreme Court lifted a centuries-old ban imposed on women of menstruating age to enter Sabarimala shrine of Lord Ayyappa who is depicted as a celibate god. However, after the SC ruling, no women below 50 was allowed to enter the shrine as the men heavily protest against the order. Congress and BJP have backed the demands of the protesters to restore the ban.
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While the Kerala government is trying to implement SC’s ruling on the matter, the protestors are demanding the state government to pass an ordinance to overrule the apex court’s order.
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