Bindu Ammini is a lawyer, activist and feminist from Kerala. She is considered to be one of the first two women to enter the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple. The Supreme Court of India (SCI) had banned women between the age of 10 and 50 from entering the temple due to menstruation age. The SCI had decided in 2019 that women of childbearing age were not allowed to enter the temple.
Wiki/Biography
Bindu Ammini was born in Kerala in 1975 (44 years old in 2021). She obtained her Master of Laws degree.
appearance
Hair color: black
Eye color: Black
family
Bindu Ammini belongs to a Dalit family in Pathanamthitta.
Parents and siblings
After her parents separated, Bindu Amini was raised by her illiterate mother.
husband and children
Her husband’s name is Hariharan, a lecturer in Kerala. He is the former Kozhikode district secretary of Yuvajanavedi. The couple has a daughter named BH Olga. She met her husband when she was 18 years old and after marriage they settled in Poyilkavu, Kerala.
Profession
After completing his law studies, Bindu Amini worked as a teacher at Calicut University for some time. Later, she started working as a lawyer at Koyilandi Court and as an Assistant Professor at the School of Legal Studies, Thalassery Campus, Kannur University. Apart from this, Bindu Ammini and her husband run a grocery store in Kerala. Later, she also started serving in the Kerala Bhim Army initiated by Chandrasekhar Azad.
Activism
Entering Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple
In 2019, India’s Supreme Court gave a green flag to women between the ages of 10 and 50 entering the Sabarimala temple. The court’s decision prompted Bindu Ammini to join several social media groups on Facebook, including Navothana Keralam Sabarimalayilekku (Renaissance Kerala), which were created for women who wanted to visit the temple of. In this Facebook group, she met Kanakadurga, the second woman to visit the Sabarimala temple along with Bindu Ammini on January 2, 2019.
Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga
First time trying to enter the temple
On December 22, 2018, Bindu Ammini along with Kanakadurga and two other women tried to enter the Sabarimala temple. First, they meet at Thrissur and then proceed to the temple. On December 24, 2018, two other women denied visiting the temple during their trip, while Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga were stopped by male protesters. She later campaigned and went on a hunger strike over the lack of police protection.
Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple in Kerala
Second attempt to enter the temple
At around 3:45 am on January 2, 2019, Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga entered the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. Dressed in black, they hurried toward the temple. However, police escorted them. Soon after the incident, a video of their entry into the temple went viral on several social media platforms across India, with messages of opposition and support. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan later confirmed that Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga entered the temple. Soon after entering the temple, the temple priests close the temple for purification rituals. After Bindu successfully entered the temple, she was protected by the police and forced to go into hiding.
Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga under police protection
Following the incident, people from the Sabarimala Kamal Samiti laid siege to her home. Other groups also launched protests after she entered the temple. In February 2019, during a conversation with a media reporter, she said she had received death threats. Bindu Amini said in an interview that she believes in lower-class feminism, which is related to the rights of backward class women. She further said that the protests against her entry into the temple were politically influenced. She narrated,
We are not trying to cause trouble,” and “Our intention is just to visit the temple. For the next generation of women, this is motivation. “
Bharatiya Janata Party members in Kerala termed the day as “Black Day” as they entered the shrine. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was also a supporter of the Supreme Court ruling, termed the entry of Bindu and Kanaka Durga as historic.
Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga showing victory sign after successfully entering Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in 2019
Third attempt to enter the temple
The Supreme Court of India transferred the case to a larger bench in November 2019. Soon, the Kerala government also stopped providing protection to Bindu and Kanakadurga following the pending judgment of the Supreme Court and withdrew its support. In November last year, Bindu and other activists went to the office of the Municipal Commissioner of Ernakulam to seek further police protection as they wanted to enter the temple again. At the office of the Municipal Commissioner of Ernakulam, an unidentified protester attacked her with chilli/pepper spray. Soon, she was admitted to the hospital. The National Commission for Women asked the Attorney General of Kerala to investigate the matter. In December 2019, the Supreme Court of India denied any police protection to the women entering the temple. On February 24, 2019, the duo were granted pre-arrest bail by the Kerala High Court for spraying chilli powder on Bindu Amini.
The Kerala High Court stated in its judgment that,
The RSS/BJP and many Hindu organizations protested against the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple. However, the Kerala government supports activist women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple. Bindu Amini was an ‘activist’, not a devotee. ”
religious outlook
In a conversation with online media outlet Time magazine, she expressed her religious views:
“I’m an agnostic. If I believe in something powerful, it’s subordination feminism.”
Facts/Trivia
- In November 2020, she released a video claiming that she was threatened by a man over the phone to attack her with sulfuric acid. Soon, based on her complaint, the police filed a case of 354A (sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation punishment) against the man.
- In 2020, Bindu Ammini was seen supporting the farmer protests in New Delhi.
Bindu Ammini attends the 2020 Delhi farmers’ protest
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education