美国国家公共电台 NPR India's Supreme Court Orders Hindu Temple To Open Doors To Women, But Devotees Object

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

In southern India, an ancient Hindu temple is at the center of a modern debate over equality. The Sabarimala temple attracts millions of pilgrims each year, but it's one of the few temples in India that have age restrictions¹ for women. That has drawn² objections from feminists⁴ and the attention of India's Supreme⁵ Court. NPR's Lauren Frayer reports from Kerala.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting in foreign language).

LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE⁶: Hindu men chant the name of a celibate⁷ god, Lord Ayyappa, as they trek⁸ toward a temple dedicated⁹ to him. Many faithful believe Lord Ayyappa should not have contact with women who menstruate. Some think they're impure¹⁰; others, a temptation. Either way, the temple bans women ages 10 to 50.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting in foreign language).

FRAYER: In September, India's Supreme Court ruled that's gender¹¹ discrimination and ordered the temple to admit women of all ages.

V V RAMANI: Supreme Court, it is not correct.

SRINAN G: This is a democratic country. This is not a judicial¹² country.

SUNDER¹³ SANTANA: They didn't study this matter in detail. It is for the benefit of the women that they abstain¹⁴ coming to this temple.

FRAYER: That was V.V. Ramani, Srinan G. and Sunder Santana, pilgrims who are trekking¹⁵ 40 miles through several towns and even a tiger reserve on a festive¹⁶ pilgrimage to the Sabarimala temple.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRUM MUSIC)

FRAYER: Pilgrims pass through towns like this. They're dancing barefoot. They're wearing sarongs, their chests strewn in beads¹⁷, their faces painted. But for me, my driver is quite nervous. I've got a police escort. And this is about as far as I'm willing to go. Because I'm a woman between the ages of 10 and 50, it's pretty sensitive.

(SOUNDBITE OF DRUM MUSIC)

FRAYER: So sensitive that when Hindu feminist³ Trupti Desai landed at an airport 95 miles away from the temple, protesters blocked the airport exits and trapped her inside.

TRUPTI DESAI: (Speaking Marathi).

FRAYER: They threatened to attack taxi drivers who might dare drive her in the direction of the temple, she says.

DESAI: (Through translator) The right to pray and the right to equality - these are given to us by the Indian Constitution. It grants us the freedom to practice any religion and protects us from sexual discrimination. Hindu gods never discriminate¹⁸ among their devotees.

FRAYER: But people do, and when female TV correspondents tried to broadcast live outside the temple, they were attacked.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Right here we are being, right now, roughed up.

FRAYER: Many of the protesters blocking women here are fellow women who do not want to enter this temple. One older woman I met, Sarassama Susheelan Nair, says she waited until she stopped getting her periods at age 53 before visiting.

SARASSAMA SUSHEELAN NAIR: (Speaking Malayalam).

FRAYER: "I'll block younger women with my own body if I have to," she says. Police are in a sticky situation. They're tasked with maintaining public order and guaranteeing women safe passage. But most of the officers here are locals, and there's a lot of pressure on them.

So we're inside a control room where...

T NARAYANAN: We already have placed 36 cameras in various places.

FRAYER: At a new command center, a wall of TV screens livestreams video from all the roads leading to the temple. But even with 5,000 extra police to escort them, not one single woman aged¹⁹ 10 to 50 has been able to reach the Sabarimala temple in the months since the Supreme Court ruled they could. The protesters, devotees and even politicians who've come out to block them say this is their freedom of religion. Cyriac Joseph is a retired²⁰ Supreme Court justice who disagrees with his old colleagues' decision.

CYRIAC JOSEPH: For example, in the Catholic Church, only the men are allowed to be a priest. Will the court say that this is inequality? That is ridiculous.

FRAYER: Joseph thinks the court is trying to be too progressive, too Western, with a spate²¹ of recent rulings protecting the rights of homosexuals, women and minorities. Late last month, India's Supreme Court announced it would review its decision on Sabarimala, which has been so unpopular here. A hearing is set for mid-January. Lauren Frayer, NPR News, Kerala, India.

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

4 feminists   

n.男女平等主义者，女权扩张论者( feminist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Only 16 percent of young women in a 1990 survey considered themselves feminists. 在1990年的一项调查中，只有16%的年轻女性认为自己是女权主义者。 来自辞典例句
• The organization had many enemies, most notably among feminists. 这个组织有许多敌人，特别是在男女平等主义者中。 来自辞典例句

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 celibate   

adj.独身的，独身主义的；n.独身者

参考例句：

• He had defended the institution of a celibate priesthood.他捍卫了独身牧师制度。
• The instinct of the celibate warned him to hold back.单身汉的本能告诫他回头是岸。

8 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

9 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

10 impure   

adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的

参考例句：

• The air of a big city is often impure.大城市的空气往往是污浊的。
• Impure drinking water is a cause of disease.不洁的饮用水是引发疾病的一个原因。

11 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

12 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

13 sunder   

v.分开；隔离；n.分离，分开

参考例句：

• Lightning tore the tree in sunder.闪电把树劈成两半。
• Nothing can sunder our friendship.什么也不能破坏我们的友谊。

14 abstain   

v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免

参考例句：

• His doctor ordered him to abstain from beer and wine.他的医生嘱咐他戒酒。
• Three Conservative MPs abstained in the vote.三位保守党下院议员投了弃权票。

15 trekking   

v.艰苦跋涉，徒步旅行( trek的现在分词 )；（尤指在山中）远足，徒步旅行，游山玩水

参考例句：

• She can't come pony trekking after all because she's in a delicate condition. 她结果还是不能坐小马车旅行，因为她已怀孕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We spent the summer trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas. 我们整个夏天都在喜马拉雅山的山麓艰难跋涉。 来自互联网

16 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

17 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

18 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

19 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

20 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

21 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。