Kochi: Supreme Court Judge Indu Malhotra's dissenting verdict where she said it was not for courts to determine which religious practices are to be struck down was sensible, former Chief Secretary R Ramachandran Nair said.
People who have visited the hill shrine at least once will understand the difficulties involved, he added.
"It is practically impossible to ensure safety of women at Sabarimala where lakhs of pilgrims congregate during the Mandala-Makaravilakku season. There are only limited facilities at Sannidhanam and the devotees scramble for space to take rest. After the arduous trek, the devotees have to wait in a long queue for more than 10 hours to have darshan of Lord Ayyappa. Some miscreants may misbehave with women pilgrims, which will lead to commotion. Even if the government deploys huge number of women cops, they won't be able to ensure protection of women," Ramachandran Nair said.
He said changing customs in the name of women rights is unjustified.
No man is allowed to enter within the 2.5 km radius of Attukal temple during the pongala festival. The chief priest of Mannarasala Nagaraja temple is a woman.
Will they change these customs also, he asked.