Who is Manju, the Dalit woman devotee who wants to enter Sabarimala?

Ernakulam: Manju, hailing from Kollam, is on the verge of making history for being the first woman to enter the Sabarimala temple, although huge odds are stacked against her.

If she enters Sabarimala, Manju will be the first woman devotee between the age group of 10 and 50 to enter the temple. She is waiting for the police to take a call on her security, according to local reports.

Manju is the state president of Kerala Dalit Mahila Federation, the women’s arm of pro-Dalit outfit Kerala Dalit Federation. She has been at the forefront of some of the community’s protest movements, but in Sabarimala she is solely on her individual capacity as a devotee, according to P Ramabhadran, president of Kerala Dalit Federation.

“She told me even yesterday that she wants to go, but I tried to advise her that it will be more safe once the protests get over. But she said she has take the 41-day vratham (a series of holy vows before making the trek) and wants to go as early as possible,” Ramabhadran said over the phone.

Manju’s political affiliations have changed with times. She was a former Communist Party of India (Marxist) and its student body Students Federation of India activist, said Ramabhadran. She later turned to the Congress, standing as a candidate for the party in a local body elections in 2015, he said.