Sabarimala temple row: Happy to Bleed activists move SC, say menstruation a 'healthy and biological process'

The Sabarimala temple row saw a new development on Monday when students of the ‘Happy to Bleed’ campaign moved the Supreme Court demanding a justification against being barred from entering the temple premises. They moved the apex court on grounds that it is a ‘healthy and biological process’ of menstruation , reported Mail Today  The report further suggested that the SC is currently hearing an appeal against the ban; members of the ‘Happy to Bleed’ campaign have, meanwhile also pleaded to be made a party. The students of the campaign have appointed senior lawyer and former Additional Solicitor General Indira Jaising to fight for them. [caption id=“attachment_2628506” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sabarimala temple. Reuters[/caption] The ‘Happy to Bleed’ campaign started after the Travancore Devaswom Board President, Prayar GopalaKrishnan had said that women can only enter the Sabarimala temple after passing through a machine that would scan for whether or not a woman is menstruating, subsequently judging how pure they are, a recent report in the International Business Times said. The campaign, reported Daily Mail, was launched to fight menstrual taboos and sexism against women and also to acknowledge and accept menstruation as a natural activity. The campaign plea said “One of the primary objectives of our campaign is fighting against menstrual discriminatory practices, specifically the practice of Sabarimala temple of denying entry to women and girls between 10-50 years which leads to stigma and shame based on gender and violation of women’s rights,” said the report. The Mail Today report said that during a hearing on the case on Friday, Justice Dipak Mishra questioned whether the Vedas, Upanishads and scriptures differentiate between men and women and whether spirituality is limited to men.