Women’s rights activist Trupti Desai, who went back home after a 14-hour standoff with protesters who refused to let her proceed to the Sabarimala temple, said she will visit the temple unannounced.

“This time, we announced and came. Next time, I will come unannounced using guerrilla tactics,” she told ANI, explaining how police told her and her team to return home to avoid law and order problem in the state.

The activist had stayed put at the Kochi airport for about 14 hours after landing from Pune at around 5 am with six young women en route to the hill temple, but was stopped by hundreds of protesters, including women and BJP workers, gathered outside the airport. A heavy police force was also deployed to thwart any untoward incident.

“Police told us that if we stayed there, there could be violence. Protesters could enter the airport and anything could happen, which the police would not be able to handle,” she told the news agency.

She said police had promised to give her protection next time she came and urged them to return to avoid any trouble.

“So we decided to go back,” she said, adding that she would return unannounced.

Taxi drivers also had refused to take her out of the airport, whose authorities asked the state government to help end the impasse, saying operations at the airport was getting affected as a result of the chaos.

As the leader of the Bhumata Ranragini Brigade, Pune-based Desai had fought for the entry of women in the Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

It was seen as an important landmark in the movement for women’s rights in the country and the incident triggered similar campaigns at other famous shrines in the country where women have been prohibited from going inside the sanctum sanctorum.

Desai had sent an email to Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking security, saying she feared an attack on her life during her visit to the hill shrine.

The famous Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala opened on Friday for a 64-day pilgrimage, the third time since Supreme Court allowed all women entry into the temple.

Traditionalists, who believe the presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, is celibate, had opposed the court verdict and last month stopped dozen-odd women who tried to enter the temple.

First Published: Nov 17, 2018 14:02 IST