Police foiled women activists plan to enter into Shani Shingnapur temple after they were blocked few kilometres away from the Temple. Women activists belonging to Ranragini Bhumat Brigade had attempted to enter Shani temple for trying to break the age old practice of denying entry to women in the shrine’s sanctum sanctorum. The activists were planning to force their way to the section where a stone considered holy and representative of Lord Shani is installed.
According to them, when the constitution has granted equal rights for everyone then why gender discrimination is prevailing in this country. They had earlier even threatened to land inside the shrine via helicopter if denied entry on ground. The sacred shrine in the temple has been out of bounds for women as per century old tradition. However, the protest intensified as the women refused to leave the area and said they will not leave the area until they are allowed inside the temple.
Trupti Desai, president of Bhumata Ranragini Brigade said, “The police are telling us we cannot go forward, but we will go forward. Today is a black day for women.”
Desai lost her temper and threatened to go on a hunger strike to protest against the age old norm denying entry for women in the temple. “I will not even drink water,” she said.
The police and temple management had tightened the security outside the Shani temple and deployed women constables and village volunteers to maintain law and order in the area.
“We have already booked a helicopter and if we are not permitted to enter from the open ground, we shall drop ladders from the chopper and climb down. We are not scared of any security since women’s rights are concerned,” Desai had said on Monday.
Meanwhile, former NCW member Shamina Shafiq slammed the temple authorities for having a “patriarchal” approach towards the issue.
“Patriarchal society is a reason for such an attitude. Inequality in another face of patriarchy that is deep rooted within the society,” she said
The uniqueness of the temple is that it has no walls or roof. A self-emerged (svayambhu) five-foot-high black stone stands on a platform and is worshipped as Lord Shanidev. The temple platform stands in the centre of the small village, also known as Sonai, and attracts millions of tourists and devotees from across the country and abroad.
Villages in Shani Shingnapur do not have doors and locks and robbery doesn’t take place as it is guarded by Lord Shani. Misfortune and divine punishment would befall anyone who attempts to steal.
