Continuing her crusade against gender discrimination at places of worship, Bhumata Ranragini Brigade (BRB) convenor Trupti Desai on Thursday visited the iconic Haji Ali dargah at Worli in south Mumbai and offered prayers amid tight security, but refrained from entering the barred “mazaar” (core worship area) of the revered Sufi shrine.
A fortnight after she beat a hasty retreat seeing scores of protesters who had gathered to block her entry inside the revered Sufi shrine, Desai led a group of women activists inside the Haji Ali dargah at around 6 am and offered prayers. She, however, made no attempt to go inside “mazaar” (core worship area) where entry has been banned for women.
There is no ban on women entering the Haji Ali dargah, located on an islet in the Arabian Sea, 500 meters off the Worli coast line in south-central Mumbai. However, the dargah trustees have imposed a ban on women entering the sanctum sanctorum of the 15th century Sufi shrine.
Talking to media persons after offering prayers at the Haji Ali dargah, Desai warned the dargh trustees of intense protests if the latter did not lift the ban on women from entering the core worship area of the shrine within next 15 days.
“At the Dargah, I prayed that women be allowed to enter the inner sanctum, as was the case till 2011,” Desai said.
Daring the dargah trustees to restore women’s right to enter “mazaar” of the revered shrine, Desai said: “On one hand, the matter (seeking entry of women inside the core worship area) is before the high court, while on the other we have hit the streets to demand women’s entry inside “mazaar”. The trustees of Ajmer Sharif dargah said yesterday that women should be allowed inside “mazaar”. That being the case, the trustees of Haji Ali dargah should show some magnanimity and allow women inside the core worship. If they do not do so within next 15 days, we will have no alternative but to intensify our protests”.
Undeterred by warning handed out by Desai, the Haji Ali Dargah Trust justified the ban on women from entering “mazaar”, saying: “As per the prevailing customs, permitting women up to the tom.b would be “anti-Islam”
“Islam does not permit women from going near the tomb. If Muslims prevent activists like Trupti Desai from entering “mazaar”, such a thing will result in a conflict situation. My request to Trupti Desai and other women activists not to indulge in an act of forcing their way inside the core worship area and disturb the peace in the metropolis. I also request the government to take strict action against such activists,” Jamiat-Ulama’s Maharashtra unit general secretary Gulzar Azmi said.