Mumbai (The Hindu): Bhumata Ranragini Brigade chief visits Haji Ali. Activist and Bhumata Ranragini Brigade chief Trupti Desai on Sunday visited Haji Ali dargah and offered prayers. She also spoke to the trustee of the Haji Ali Dargah Trust and requested him to not move the Supreme Court against the Bombay High Court order allowing women’s entry.

Ms. Desai has set her sights now on Sabarimala temple, the famous pilgrimage centre in Kerala, and said she has written to the trustees there to lift its restriction on the entry of women in the 10-50 age group.

“We appeal to them to go by the Bombay High Court order and allow women inside. If they don’t respond in the next 15 days, we will be going there,” she said.

The Bombay High Court had on Friday ruled that women be allowed inside the sanctum of the Haji Ali Dargah.

It had noted in its verdict that the ban imposed by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust violated fundamental rights as granted by the Constitution.

Ms. Desai had last visited the dargah on May 12 to demand women’s entry inside the sanctum sanctorum.

‘Our prayer heard’
Speaking to The Hindu on Sunday, she said: “I had prayed for women’s entry the last time I came here. Our prayer was heard and our wish fulfilled so I came here to offer my gratitude.”

Ms. Desai was accompanied by 20 other members of the Bhumata Ranragini Brigade on Sunday when she visited Haji Ali and apart from offering prayers, they also offered a ‘chadar.’

She said she met a trustee of the dargah who was present when she visited the shrine. “I requested them not to move the SC against the HC verdict and also requested him to allow women’s entry into the shrine immediately,” she said, adding that the trustee told them that the trust would be taking a collective decision on this.

The HC has granted a six-week stay on the order on a request by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust to enable it to go on appeal before the apex court. The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz and Zakia Soman, co-founders of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, in November 2014.