Basking in the glory of having entered the sanctum sanctorum of Mumbai’s Haji Ali Dargah on Tuesday, activist and Bhoomata Brigade chief Trupti Desai now plans to enter Kerala’s Sabarimala.
Trupti said that she, along with 100 women campaigners, will now make their way to the Sabarimala shrine.
With the case on allowing the entry of women to the Ayyappa shrine still pending in the Supreme Court, Trupti’s declaration has irked many, including social activist Rahul Easwar.
As Trupti Desai is already planning entry into Sabarimala in January 2017, devotees and activists in Kerala have begun to plot ways of stopping her.
Speaking to The News Minute, Rahul has openly challenged Trupti Desai to stick to her words of entering Sabarimala.
“Sister Tripti, with all humility and respect, I challenge you to enter Sabarimala. Neither you nor your 100 supporters will be allowed to get past Pamba. 500 women will form a human chain to prevent you from doing so,” Rahul said.
He believes that women campaigners stopping Trupti Desai will also serve a broader philosophical cause and that he does respect women empowerment, but not “western and ultra feminism”.
According to him, the so-called liberals are deliberately trying to position the Sabarimala case as a gender issue, where in reality it is a battle between “Indian womenism and Western feminism”.
Rahul said that his Ayyappa Dharma Sena and other women’s groups campaigning against women’s entry will duly request the Kerala state government to stop Trupti from violating the rules.
“Considering the left government in the state has never supported our cause, we are prepared to stop Trupti Desai and her group, if the government fails to do so,” he said.
Interestingly, Trupti Desai told The News Minute that she hopes to get the support of the Kerala government in entering the temple.
Rahul accused Trupti of deliberately trying to create a precedent in an issue that she views as a gender issue. If Trupti Desai’s weapon of contention is her constitutional right to pray, Rahul says that the cause of Sabarimala is also protected by Article 25 of the Indian Constitution.
“This is not a gender issue, nor are we arguing in the name of tradition. It is a constitutional battle between two provisions in the law. Unlike the perception that Hindu temples are public places, they are in fact private spaces for public worship. These ultra feminists including their lawyer Indira Jaising are foreign-funded entities, who aim to destabilize Indian values, make people believe that women in the country are marginalized. The right wing’s counter to feminism is familism,” Rahul asserted.
Rahul, however, does not forget to give timely reassurances that he is indeed a liberal and not a pseudo-liberal like the campaigners of Right to Pray.
Rahul accused Trupti of championing a “gender cause” while maintaining that she has ulterior motives.
The larger propaganda, Rahul believes, is to pave the way for the Uniform Civil Code, by attacking religious institutions, one by one.
“Trupti is just a tool...the face of the ultra right wing group in this country, who believe that creating an anti-Muslim rhetoric is the only way to unify Hindus. Trupti first attacked the Shani Shingnapur, then Haji Ali and now Sabarimala. If you think Sabarimala is her last stop, don’t be fooled by that idea. By positioning Sabarimala women’s entry as a gender issue, they are aiming at the implementation of UCC in the long run. But in the process, it is the Hindu temples and beliefs that get affected. That’s exactly why theirs is a bad agenda,” Rahul said.
Rahul opines that Trupti Desai will not attract the wrath of the judiciary if she tries to enter Sabarimala while the case is sub judice, for he feels that the Supreme Court is afraid to be seen as anti-women.
"I urge the SC to take a politically incorrect, but constitutionally correct judgement in the case," Rahul added.