Vanitha Mathil ("Women's Wall") was a human chain formed on 1 January 2019 across the Indian state of Kerala to uphold gender equality and protest against gender discrimination. The wall was formed solely by women and extended for a distance of around from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram. Around three to five million women participated in the event.

Background

In Kerala, the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

temple at

Sabarimala The Sabarimala Temple (; ml, ശബരിമല ക്ഷേത്രം) is a temple complex located at Sabarimala hill inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Perinad Village, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. It is one of the largest ...

traditionally barred women between the ages of 10 and 50 from entering to worship Ayyappa. Some people claimed women were barred because

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of hor ...

is impure, but devotees claimed they are not allowed because of the celibate nature of the deity. In September 2018, the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

, in a historic verdict, allowed women of all ages to enter the temple, stating that any discrimination based on biological differences is clearly unconstitutional. The ruling coalition of the state

Left Democratic Front The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of left-wing political parties in the state of Kerala, India. It is the current ruling political alliance of Kerala, since 2016. It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the oth ...

welcomed the judgment, while opposition parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress launched protests opposing the verdict. Many Hindu groups protested against the judgment and the state government's decision to implement it.

Wall

On 15 December 2018, Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced after meeting with 176 social and political organisations that the women's wall would be held on New Year's Day to protect the renaissance values of the state. A theme song for the event by

Prabha Varma Prabha Varma (born 2 August 1959) is a poet, lyricist, journalist and television presenter. Biography PRABHA VARMA Poet, littérateur, lyricist and editor who works with traditional as well as electronic media, cultural activist – Prabha ...

was released. On 1 January 2019 at 4:00 pm, the wall was formed by around three to five million women along the national highways of the state of Kerala for around . The wall began in the northern end of the state by Kerala's Minister of Health and Social Justice

K. K. Shailaja K. K. Shailaja (born 20 November 1956) is an Indian politician and former Health Minister of Kerala who hails from Kannur district. Shailaja currently serves as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) representing Mattanur constituency ...

in Kasargod, and ended in Thiruvananthapuram in the south with

Brinda Karat Brinda Karat (born 17 October 1947) is an Indian politician, elected to the Rajya Sabha as a Communist Party of India (Marxist) member on 11 April 2005 for West Bengal. In 2005, she became the first woman member of the CPI(M) Politburo. She ...

, leader of the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

. Activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party reportedly tried to attack the wall in Kasargod. On the same day, in support of the event in Kerala, women's walls were organised in solidarity with Vanitha Mathil in other Indian cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai. The women's wall in Kerala became the world's fourth largest human chain ever made, and the largest formed solely by women.

References

{{reflist, 2 2019 in India 2019 in women's history 2019 protests History of Kerala (1947–present) History of women's rights January 2019 events in India Protests in India Women's marches Women's rights in India Human chains (politics)