In a first, over 35 lakh women form human wall across Kerala to uphold gender equality

Women line up on highways in Kerala to create a 620-km human wall as part of a state-sponsored initiative to uphold gender equality.

In a first, over 35 lakh women stood shoulder to shoulder across national highways in Kerala, creating a 620 km-long human wall from the northern end of Kasaragod to the southern tip in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday as part of a state-sponsored initiative to uphold gender equality.

This comes days after thousands of devotees lit 'Ayyappa Jyothis' (sacred lamps) and lined up from Hosangadi in Kasaragod to Kanyakumari, vowing to protect the age-old customs and traditions of Sabarimala.

On Tuesday, women from various walks of life -- writers, athletes, actors, politicians, techies, government officials, and homemakers -- stood across highways crisscrossing through the 14 districts in the state as the event commenced at 4 pm.

Expressing solidarity, thousands of men also lined up forming a second human wall. The women's wall was conceived in the backdrop of frenzied protests witnessed in the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala after the CPI(M)-led LDF government decided to implement the Supreme Court verdict, allowing all women to pray at the Ayyappa shrine.

Representatives of Universal Record Forum (URF) which records amazing feats across the globe declared the human wall as the "longest women's wall in the world" with the participation of over 35 lakh women.

However, CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan claimed 55 lakh women lined up for the "wall". CPI(M) polit bureau member Brinda Karat, who was the last member of the human wall at Thiruvananthapuram, said women in Kerala have scripted history by erecting a "human wall of resistance" against dark forces.

She also lashed out at the saffron party, saying it was using women for its "toxic, divisive, anti-women political goal", and asked women not to be pawns in the hands of those who have no thoughts about the future of women.

Movement against gender discrimination

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his cabinet colleagues and Communist veteran V S Achuthanandan were among those present at the public meeting after the formation of the wall. Vijayan garlanded the statue of Ayyankali, a social reformer, before the start of the event. The wall has become a movement against gender discrimination faced by women and to protect their Constitutional rights, he said. 

The initiative also witnessed a group of the Jacobite faction of the Christian community as they lined up in support along with members of the Muslim community.

Former firebrand Communist leader and Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy supremo, 100-year-old K R Gowriamma also took part in the event near her home at Alappuzha. Jhonson V Idikula, Chairman of the monitoring panel of the URF Adjudication Committee, told PTI they had over 600 volunteers across the state to monitor the event.

"We have recorded the event, clicked pictures, and captured videos to prepare a comprehensive report," Idikula said.

However, the main Opposition Congress, which all through had expressed their ire against the wall, said, "Kerala society has dismissed the government's much-hyped event." The BJP state leadership dubbed the wall a "total failure" and waste of government funds and machinery.

G Sukumaran Nair, who heads the Nair Service Society (NSS), which kept away from the event, said 'God's Own Country' will turn into 'Devil's Own Country' after formation of such walls.

Violence marred the initiative as participants of the women's wall were attacked at Chettukund in Kasaragod district, allegedly by some BJP-RSS workers, as they lined up at the national highway there to form the human chain. The workers hurled stones at the women and policemen, injuring three personnel, police said, adding that they had to fire in the air and burst teargas shells to disperse the attackers.

Media personnel of two television channels were also attacked by the activists, who reportedly forced them to delete visuals of the incident. According to K Sreekanth, BJP Kasaragod district president, the violence was allegedly the handiwork of CPI(M) as the women's wall was a failure in the northernmost district.

CPI(M) district secretary M V Balakrishnan, slammed the BJP, alleging that BJP workers had burnt grass and shrubs after sprinkling chilli powder and that 13 women were hospitalised after inhaling the fumes.

A group of women in New Delhi on Tuesday expressed solidarity with their counterparts in Kerala by holding a demonstration outside Kerala House at Jantar Mantar Road where members of National Federation of Indian Women held placards saying, "Equality and Justice is Women's Constitutional Right".

The women's wall was suggested at a meeting called by the Kerala government, following massive protests by right-wing parties and a section of devotees over the government's decision to implement the September 28 apex court order, allowing women of all ages to offer prayers at Sabarimala.