Trupti Desai said she entered the Islamic religious site in 2016 following a court ruling
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on December 10, 2019 at 09:20
- 3 min read
- By AFP India
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The photo of Desai and four other men was published here on Facebook on November 26, 2019, where it has been shared hundreds of times.
The post’s caption reads: “Trupti Desai Felicitated by Muslims for her efforts to desecrate the #Sabarimala #Ayyappa Temple. But she was not allowed to Inner sanctum of Haji Ali Dargah.”
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:
Sabarimala is a famous temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Ayyappa in Kerala, a southern Indian state.
The Haji Ali Dargah is a historic mosque and the final resting place of a Muslim saint in India's financial capital Mumbai.
Desai's Bhumata Brigade have campaigned for both holy sites to allow women entry.
In 2016, the Haji Ali Dargah told India's Supreme Court it would grant women access to the tomb in the 15th-century building. Here is an AFP report on the legal dispute.
Desai welcomed the development in a speech posted on Facebook by Indian television channel Times Now here.
In September 2018, India's Supreme Court overturned a decades-old ban on women of menstruating age -- deemed as those between 10 and 50 -- setting foot inside the gold-plated Sabarimala temple. Here is an AFP report on the issue.
Desai welcomed that ruling in an interview she streamed live on her Facebook page here on September 28, 2018.
The photo was also shared alongside a similar claim here, here and here on Facebook, and here and here on Twitter.
The claim is misleading. Desai told AFP she was allowed to enter part of the Muslim shrine's inner sanctum following the 2016 court decision.
The Bombay High court ruled on August 26, 2016 that women must be allowed access to Haji Ali Dargah’s inner sanctum, which houses the tomb of the Muslim saint.
In a 56-page ruling, the court said excluding women violated the Indian Constitution and said women must be “permitted to enter the sanctum sanctorum at par with men.”
The court also ordered local authorities to “take effective steps to ensure the safety and security of women at the said place of worship.”
The verdict was widely reported in national and international media at that time, for example here, here and here. AFP covered the decision here.
Desai entered part of the Haji Ali Dargah’s inner sanctum two days after the court verdict, according to national media reports, for example here.
"As per the court verdict, both men and women are allowed access until a certain point in the innermost sanctum at Haji Ali Dargah,” Desai told AFP by phone on December 4.
“I visited the inner sanctum as per the court mandated guidelines and was allowed entry."
The image in the misleading post shows a celebratory event that followed the Sabarimala decision, which was live streamed on Desai's Facebook page here.
The same individuals, wearing the same clothes, can be seen in the live stream and in the photo used in the misleading post.
Desai said the people at the event were religious leaders from multiple communities, including Muslim community members, according to this report in the Quint, an India-based news site.
Below is a screenshot of the Facebook live video on Trupti Desai's page:
The Supreme Court is set to review its 2018 order granting women of all ages access to Sabarimala temple, a decision that has faced sustained opposition from right wing Hindu groups.
Last week, Desai abandoned plans to enter Sabarimala due to security concerns after police denied her group protection, national media reported here.
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