Women stopped at Shani temple
AHMEDNAGAR/MUMBAI, Apr 03, 2016, DHNS
Defying Bombay High Court ruling that it is women’s fundamental right to enter places of worship and the government must protect it, villagers barred women activists at Shani Shinganapur temple on Saturday.
While activists of Bhumata Ranragini Brigade had pledged to enter the temple following the court ruling, the opposing villagers sought to protect a four centuries-old tradition of the temple barring women.
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shanidev —a personification of planet Saturn — and the hoary tradition bars women from the platform on which the Shani idol stands. Brigade founder Trupti Desai, who is spearheading the campaign for women’s entry, and some activists were hurt in the scuffle with the opponents. “There is a order that allows women in all temples, but we are being prevented; we seek the intervention of the prime minister,” Desai said amidst the chaos.
Desai also threatened to lodge an FIR against Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio. “Police has prevented us from entering the temple. This is contempt of court... which has ordered that if women are stopped, the police must intervene and allow them to go to the sanctum sanctorum,” Desai said.
Desai and other activists started from Pune in the morning and reached the Newasa taluka around noon. They tried to climb the chauthara, the sanctum sanctorum, but members of the local resistance group and temple officials pushed them away. The villagers, including scores of women, formed a human chain and prevented the women activists from getting on to the chauthara.
While activists of Bhumata Ranragini Brigade had pledged to enter the temple following the court ruling, the opposing villagers sought to protect a four centuries-old tradition of the temple barring women.
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shanidev —a personification of planet Saturn — and the hoary tradition bars women from the platform on which the Shani idol stands. Brigade founder Trupti Desai, who is spearheading the campaign for women’s entry, and some activists were hurt in the scuffle with the opponents. “There is a order that allows women in all temples, but we are being prevented; we seek the intervention of the prime minister,” Desai said amidst the chaos.
Desai also threatened to lodge an FIR against Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio. “Police has prevented us from entering the temple. This is contempt of court... which has ordered that if women are stopped, the police must intervene and allow them to go to the sanctum sanctorum,” Desai said.
Desai and other activists started from Pune in the morning and reached the Newasa taluka around noon. They tried to climb the chauthara, the sanctum sanctorum, but members of the local resistance group and temple officials pushed them away. The villagers, including scores of women, formed a human chain and prevented the women activists from getting on to the chauthara.
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