A day after Bombay high court held that entry to temples was fundamental right of women, activists of the Bhumata Brigade once again tried to storm into the inner sanctum of Shani Shinganapur temple — access to which is banned for women.
However, the villagers were in no mood to relent or honour the high court order. They managed to stop the Bhumata Brigade activists from climbing the chauthara (platform) of Shri Shani Shingnapur Temple on Saturday.
Bhumata president Trupti Desai and other activists along with former MLA Bhanudas Murkute were shoved out separately by the villagers. The police, however, had to manage the situation to avoid further conflagration and detained Ms Desai and other activists.
A visibly angry Ms Desai said that the trustees had committed contempt of court while the home minister (chief minster Devendra Fadnavis) and police had failed to do their duty. “We will be forced to file FIRs against the CM and police for not implementing the HC order and also meet the Prime Minister and seek his intervention,” she said.
“After the HC order, the police should have given us security and should have helped us have to take darshan from the chauthara. Instead, we were detained,” Ms Desai said.
Executive president of Bhumata Brigade Kantilal Anna Gaware said that some 50 activists were detained, bundled into vehicles and taken to Ahmednagar-Pune border, from where they were sent back to Pune.
Earlier, after the HC order on Friday, Ms Desai announced her plan to take darshan in the Shani Shingnapur Temple and left Pune in the morning.
However, another group of women too entered Shingnapur and demanded darshan in the morning. The issue was compounded when Mr Murkute along with some activists also tried to have darshan. Angry villagers, including women, manhandled and pushed out the activists.
By the time Ms Desai and Bhumata activists entered the village, tensions were already high. The determined villagers, which included a large number of women, said that they would not allow anyone to tamper with tradition.
Shri Shani Shingnapur Devasthan CEO Gorakshnath Darandale said that they had a copy of the HC order. “We respect the HC and are willing to implement the order. However, the order does not mention that women should be allowed to climb the chauthara to have darshan,” he said.
The Bhumata Brigade has been agitating for equal rights of darshan in two temples-Shani Shingnapur and Trimbakeshwar, where women are not allowed beyond a certain point. She has earlier tried to enter Shingnapur and Trimbakeshwar temples.
