English
Pune: Social activist Trupti Desai on Wednesday said she would visit the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala along with six other women in the previously banned 10-50 age group on November 17. The decision sparked outrage as the founder of Bhumata Brigade received a number of threats on social media platforms which claimed that she will be cut into pieces if at all she visits Kerala.
In a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who has called for a meeting with Pandalam Palace and Thantri Family at 3.30 PM on Thursday, Desai mentioned the threats that she has been receiving on the social media platforms. “Trupti Desai, if you ever come to Kerala, you will be cut into pieces. You will be murdered, when you come to Kerala. We will commit suicide,” the threats claimed.
Stating that she would not leave the state if she were not allowed to enter the Lord Ayyappa shrine, Desai has demanded the Chief Minister to provide her security during the visit to the temple on Saturday.
“It may be noted that, unless we do not worship at the Sabarimala temple by entering into the sanctum sanctorum, we will not return without worshipping
God. We would never leave Kerala,” she stated in the letter. She has further urged the government to arrange a vehicle for her delegation and bear the expenses of their stay as well. “Our fight for the entry into the Sanctorum of the temple is for the right of gender equality. This is not a fight against any religion or against devotees,” she added.
Earlier on October 19, Trupti Desai was detained by the Pune Police after she along with other women activists threatened to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy. She had written to Ahmednagar Superintendent of Police, demanding a meeting with the PM to discuss the Sabarimala issue.
Desai had earlier spearheaded the campaign to allow entry of women to various religious places, including Shani Shingnapur temple, the Haji Ali Dargah, the Mahalakshmi Temple and the Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed to reconsider its September 28 verdict allowing entry of women of all age groups into the Sabarimala temple while, refusing to stay its earlier verdict. A top court bench comprising CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra decided to hear the review petitions in open court on January 22.
The order said, “We make it clear that there is no stay of the judgement and order of this Court dated 28th September, 2018 passed in Writ Petition (Civil) No.373 of 2006 (Indian Young Lawyers Association & Ors. vs. the State of Kerala & Ors).”
In a landmark judgement, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra in its 4:1 verdict on September 28 said that banning women’s entry into the temple is ‘gender discrimination’ and violates the rights of Hindu women. It may be noted that the women of menstruating age, that is, between 10 and 50, were barred from entering the Sabarimala Temple by its officials.
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