BackPolice stops women activists from marching to Shani Shingnapur temple
Tradition bans women from entering the temple's sanctum
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Ahmednagar: A plan by 350 women activists to barge into Shani Shingnapur temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra to break a 400-year-old tradition banning women from entering its sacred sanctum was on Tuesday foiled by police.
The activists were stopped at a village, 70km away from the shrine. The moment the buses of the activists under the banner of Bhumata Brigade reached Supa village, the volunteers led by its president Trupti Desai were stopped from moving forward by police personnel, who formed a human ring to stop them from marching towards the temple.
Desai, who on Monday said volunteers would climb down ladders from a helicopter to offer prayers at the chauthara (platform) of Lord Shani temple if they are not allowed access, was detained and taken to Supa police station.
The activists protested against the police action and raised slogans, screaming “it is a black day for women on the Republic Day."
“Police has stopped around 350 women at Supa and necessary action will be taken against them," additional superintendent of police Pankaj Deshmukh said.
Amid the stand-off, Desai told reporters said that the action against them was “condemnable" and that it was a “black day for women as well as Indian democracy on the Republic Day". She demanded to know why women were being discriminated against. “This is brazen violation of the constitutional rights of women... we want to know from chief minister (Devendra Fadnavis) why we have been stopped. We will move ahead," Desai said.
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shani, the personification of the planet Saturn, and women devotees are not permitted at the platform as per the tradition followed by the shrine.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar backs campaign
Spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Tuesday said the movement is justified as there is no scriptural sanction for discriminating against female devotees. “If men can enter, women too can... different temples follow different rules, but if men can enter a place (of worship) women can also do so. There is no scriptural sanction for any gender discrimination," he said. PTI
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