Rahul Easwar dares Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai to enter Sabarimala Temple in Kerala

Trivandrum: Ayyappa Dharma Sena president Rahul Easwar has dared Bhumata Brigade chief Trupti Desai to enter Sabarimala Temple in Kerala.

Easwar's challenge comes after it was reported that Desai along with 100 women supporters will enter the Ayyappa shrine in January.

“Trupti Desai won`t be allowed inside Sabarimala and our women activists group will block Trupti Desai or any ultra feminists who are trying to attack Sabarimala,” the Ayyappa Dharma Sena president categorically stated.

Notably, the Kerala government had told informed the Supreme Court that it favours the entry of women of any age into Sabarimala temple.

The apex court is examining the customary practice of banning the entry of women between 10 and 50 years into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala in the context of the constitutional provisions.

In a significant development, after five years and a series of legal battles and agitations, around 400 women entered the famous Haji Ali dargah on Tuesday afternoon and solemnly offered prayers.

Till June 2012, women were allowed entry upto the mazaar but suddenly it was stopped.

In 2014, the BMMA and others challenged the move of the Haji Ali Dargah Trust in the Bombay High Court.

On August 26, Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice Revathi Mohite-Dhere had ruled in favour of the petitioners and directed the trust to allow equal access to women, which the trust challenged in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on October 24 delivered its verdict on grounds of equal access to men and women, even as the trust expressed readiness to allow women into the mazaar.

Earlier, the 'Bhumata Brigade' and several other women rights activists in May entered the inner sanctum of the famous Kapaleshwar temple in Nashik.

(With agencies inputs)