Hindunism. The article "Let Women Enter Hindu Temple, Indian Religious Boards Says, in Reversal" by Kai Schultz

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The article "Let Women Enter Hindu Temple, Indian Religious Boards Says, in Reversal" by Kai Schultz of the New York Times is about a heated disagreement between the Indian government and religious groups about whether women have the right to worship in temples (Schultz, 2019). Previously, the Indian Religious Board had opposed the entry of women to the temples indicating that this shrine was only reserved for men. Nevertheless, the government changed its position concerning this prohibition.
According to the article, the issue of whether women should be allowed to enter a Hindu temple known as Sabarimala has provoked protests and riots for months with most people practicing Hinduism opposing the idea of allowing adult women to pray inside Hindu Temples (Schultz, 2019). The author indicates that the issue is a good example of how religious practices sometimes conflicts with the rule of law.
While the Religious Board has changed its position and even a Supreme Court ruling that denying women of childbearing age a chance to pray in the temple amounts to violation of their religious right, the issue is far from over. Several religious groups in India are protesting the ruling and are urging judges to reconsider their decision.
The article highlights that the decision by the Indian Religious Board will come as a relief to women because since the construction of Sabarimala Temple, about a century ago, only two women have managed to visit the shrine (Schultz, 2019). Through its lawyer, Rakesh Dwivedi contended that women like the male counterparts have the right to worship wherever they wished and stated that it was time for the belief that women should not pray inside the Temple to be scrapped. The Lawyer argued that "women cannot be excluded from any walk of life on biological attributes" (Schultz, 2019).
According to Hindu religious customs, people visit the Sabarimala Temple to worship Lord Ayyappa every year and the supporters of the ban indicated that they had observed the rule for the entire of their lives. They contend that letting women pray inside would provoke the god of abstinence, Lord Ayyappa.
The controversy is further fueled by the fact that in 1991, Kerala High Court had integrated this ban into Indian law. Although the Supreme Court outlawed the ban in 2018, the controversy continues with authorities such as the Kerala state government and the Communist Party of India supports the decision by the court while on the other side religious groups such as pilgrims still protesting the move by the government (Schultz, 2019). Following the ruling, some women tried to access the temple with police protection, but none managed to reach there due to fierce protest from the mobs who hurled stones, burned vehicles and physically fought with the police in an attempt to stop these women from getting too close to Sabarimala.
As indicated earlier, only two women have managed to enter Sabarimala since it was constructed, a century ago (Schultz, 2019). They entered into the temple in January 2019. When it was discovered that these women had accessed the temple, it was shut temporarily for the priest to perform cleansing rituals. In addition, w...