Trupti Desai seeks God's blessing ahead of Bombay HC verdict on women's entry in Haji Ali Dargah case

Pune: Bhumata Brigade activist Trupti Desai on Monday said she will seek blessings of the presiding deity at the Shani Shingnapur temple ahead of Tuesday's Bombay High Court verdict in the Haji Ali Dargah no-entry case.

"The Bhumata Brigade had taken out a protest in regard to the entry of women in the inner sanctum of the Haji Ali Dargah. The verdict in regard to the PIL in the Bombay High Court will come tomorrow. We are going to the Shani temple today to pray that the verdict comes in our favour," Desai told ANI.

She said she is a follower of God and has full faith on the supreme authority.

"I had prayed and always kept faith on God during the Trimbakeshwar protest or Shani Shingnapur protest. So, we are going to offer our prayers today," she added.

The Bombay High Court will pronounce its verdict tomorrow on a petition filed by a women's group challenging ban on entry of women inside the sanctum sanctorum of Haji Ali dargah in the city.

Desai's efforts to enter the dargah were foiled by policemen and local residents on April 28.

The activist -- who had successfully campaigned against the ban on women entering the Maharashtra's Shani Shingnapur temple -- had planned to enter the dargah, one of the foremost Muslim shrines, which does not allow women in its core area.

The high court is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activists Noorjehan Niaz and Zakia Soman of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan urging the court to lift the restrictions imposed somewhere between March and June 2012 by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust.

The state had supported the entry of women saying that the trust would have to prove that banning entry of women is singularly essential to the practice of Islam.

The trust had claimed that separate arrangements are made for women who are allowed up to a certain point from where they can offer prayers but they cannot touch the tomb of a male saint as it is a sin in Islam.