Sabarimala protests: Gender activist Trupti Desai still at Kochi airport

Kochi, Nov 16: Gender activist Trupti Desai and six other women, who arrived here on Friday to visit the Sabarimala temple amid strong protests by Hindu activists, were still at the airport after almost eight hours.

Desai and her group reached Kochi from Pune at around 4.45 a.m.

Angry Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Sangh Parivar activists protested outside the airport, forcing her to remain inside.

When Desai arrived, there were just 100 protesters. The number has now increased to over thousands who have taken position at every entry and exit gate both inside and outside the airport.

Top state BJP leaders have also arrived at the airport.

BJP spokesperson Shoba Surendran said: "We have to tell her to go back as we will not allow her to go out from here. Desai has got all the support from atheists like our Chief Minister who is determined to see that a lady gets to visit the temple.

"She is nothing but an activist who has scant respect for the tradition of Sabarimala. So it's best that (Pinarayi) Vijayan sees that she is packed off from here at the earliest."

Despite pleas from the police, Desai said she would not return without visiting the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media from the Nilackal base camp near the Lord Ayyappa shrine, state Minister for Devasoms (that looks after temples) Kadakampally Surendran said the activist arrived in Kochi after she wrote to the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers of Kerala and Maharashtra.

Senior police officials from Ernakulam district along with others from the district administration and Airport Authority were speaking to Desai, trying to persuade her to return to Mumbai.

Prior to her arrival, the activist wrote to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan requesting for police protection right from the time she steps out of her plane at Kochi on Friday till she takes her return flight out of the state.

The temple is scheduled to open on Friday at 5 p.m. for two months.

The temple town has witnessed protests by Hindu groups and temple tantri since the September 28 Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of all ages to enter the temple that hitherto banned girls and women aged between 10 and 50.

The apex court on Tuesday refused to stay its earlier verdict.