Activists, Shani temple trust members to meet

Ranragini Bhumata Brigade (RBB) activists and Shani Shingnapur Devasthan Trust (SSDT) members will meet in the temple town on Monday to discuss the impasse over the entry of women to the temple chauthara (holy platform), according to RBB president Trupti Desai. This will be the second but unofficial meeting of the parties. The first official meeting was facilitated by the collector of Ahmednagar Anil Kawade on February 6. Though the first meeting remained inconclusive, both parties had termed it ‘positive’. The meeting was held after the chief minister called for discussions between the parties for an amicable settlement.

Speaking to The Asian Age, Ms Desai said that she would be going to the meeting with a delegation of 12 to 15 persons. The meeting will be held at 1 pm.

SSDT member Yogesh Bankar said that they had got a phone call from Desai and were ready to welcome all devotees to Shani Shingnapur. “If they want a discussion, we are always ready to discuss and put forward our points amicably,” he said. When asked whether there would be any tension, Mr Bankar said that, it would be a normal day.

Assistant police inspector (API) P. Mandale said that they could not bar any devotee from coming to Shani Shingnapur. When asked whether there would be an additional police bandobast, given the fracas on Republic Day, Mr Mandale said that they had not received any official communication in this regard.

Readers may recall that RBB activists had tried to stage a mass darshan from the chauthara on Republic Day. This had created tension in the temple town and additional police bandobast was made. To stop further aggravation of the situation, the police had detained RBB activists before they could reach the temple town and sent them back to Pune. This had helped defuse further tension.