Less than a day after two women from Kerala entered the Sabarimala sanctum, Rajesh R Kurup of the fake Sabarimala photoshoot fame protested by shaving half his moustache. Confirming the news, Rajesh, a follower of the RSS, stated that he was doing this to express his protest against the two women - Bindu and Kanakadurga - who entered the temple in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Rajesh posted his picture with half a moustache, again clicked by a professional photographer, on Facebook. He wrote that he was shaving off his moustache as protest and that Hindus should take precautions to safeguard their properties (temples) from being looted.
A native of Mannar, Rajesh (39) was earlier booked and arrested for spreading fake pictures of alleged police atrocity in Sabarimala. The viral pictures showed Rajesh, dressed in black and carrying an irumudikettu being kicked on the chest by a police officer. It was soon found that the pictures were fake and from a photoshoot he had done to protest against prohibitory orders at the hill shrine and police action during clashes between police and right wing protestors. The images from the shoot stirred up a controversy and soon after Rajesh deleted them, but not before the Alappuzha police took notice and booked him following a complaint by DYFI Secretary from Chennithala, S Sarathbabu.
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Several protests have broken out across the state following the entry of the two women - Bindu and Kanakadurga (both in their 40s) and did the darshan at 3:45 am on Wednesday. The women who made the ascent at 1 am entered through the staff gate of the temple and prayed and left the premises by around 4. They are currently in an undisclosed location and under the protection of the state police. Meanwhile a state wide dawn to dusk hartal has been announced by the Sabarimala Karma Samiti to protest against the entry of the women into the temple.
In Thiruvananthapuram, journalists, especially women reporters were targeted once again and attacked by the protestors. Violent protests broke out in certain other areas such as Vadakara, Adoor, Malappuram Mavelikkara, Kollam, Adoor and Kothamangalam. In Palakkad, the BJP cadres marched toward an event where law minister AK Balan was speaking and forced all shops on the way to shut down.
BJP has also stated that the protests will only get stronger in the coming days.