The Bhumata Brigade, that has been pushing for equal entry to women in temples, has now split into two with both sides calling itself the orginal Bhumata organisation. A delegation of the new Swabhimani Bhumata Brigade (SBB) met the trustees of Shri Trimbakeshwar Devasthan Trust (STDT) recently and discussed the issue of entry of women in the sanctum of temples.
The SBB delegation included president Durga Shukre, advocate Kamal Sawant, Pushpak Janardhan Kewadkar, Prashant Kumar, Gorakh Jagtap, Priyanka Jagtap and others.
Interestingly, Ms Shukre said, “We are in agreement with the trustees’ stance. A decision will be taken after discussing the issue in a joint meeting with the Shankarcharya, Akhada Parishad and Vishva Hindu Parishad.” This stance is in complete variance with the principles of Bhumata Brigade led by Trupti Desai.
To this, Ms Desai said that, she had expelled Ms Shukre on February 10, for anti-organisational activities. She also gave a photocopy of notice served to Ms Shukre. The letterhead has ‘Bhumata Ranragini Brigade’ printed on it.
The STDT through a press release stated that, the meeting with the temple trustees was cordial and together they decided that they would work for the rehabilitation of drought-affected farmers and the families of farmers who had committed suicide.
The Bhumata organisation had garnered huge publicity after its agitations for Shani Shingnapur Temple in Ahmednagar of 26 January and Trimbakeshwar Temple in Nashik on 7 March. In both the agitations, the Bhumata activists were not allowed to reach the temples but detained at the borders and sent back to Pune.
Hindu organisations, temple trustees, Akhada Parishad and others have already opposed the move to allow women in the sanctum. Ms Desai stated that, the RSS has stated that women should not be stopped from entering and people should change their mentality.
