Equal rights activists slam Haji Ali trustees for denying women entry

MUMBAI: Whether it is freedom of worship or the right to vote, Muslim women are increasingly opposing fundamentalist diktats. Rights activist Trupti Desai may have opened the doors of temples like Shani Shingnapur and Trimbakeshwar for women but she failed to enter the iconic Haji Ali dargah on Thursday. She, however, later returned, staged a dharna and tried to head to meet chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at his residence, but cops kept her near Azad Maidan police station.
After keeping mediapersons hawk-eyed and cops on the edge for over an hour, she reached the periphery of the barricaded area for protesters of the Haji Ali Sab Ke Liye forum near Haji Ali Juice Centre on the main road but did not step out of her car.
Immediately after Desai reached, members of Muslim parties like Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Awami Vikas Party (AVP) surrounded her car, shouting slogans. The police, fearing trouble, drove Desai away from the spot. Forum members, who had sought permission to assemble at 4pm-5pm said they felt a bit dejected. “It is unfortunate that Trupti did not stick to the common programme. Entering the dargah was never part of our programme and Trupti should not have told the media that she would enter the shrine at least on the day we had decided against it,“ said Javed Anand of the Muslims for Secular Democracy and a forum member.
Progressive activists slammed Haji Ali dargah trustees for blocking the entry of women into the shrine's sanctum sanctorum. “Sufis' shrines have been traditionally secular and liberal spaces. Now the thekedars (contractors) of religion want to keep women away from the shrine's sanctum sanctorum.We will keep fighting till women's rights are restored at Haji Ali, as was done till 2011,“ said Feroze Mithiborewala, another forum member. He too felt disappointed with Desai's “conduct“ as she came late and never joined the protesting activists.