It seems the patriarchal Indian society is not yet ready to allow women to worship Lord Shani by entering the temple premises. A group of villagers including women physically prevented the activists from entering the temple.
A day after the Bombay High Court ruled that it is the fundamental right of women to go to all places of worship, around 25 women activists led by Trupti Desai today entered the premises of the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra, but were stopped by locals from offering prayers at the inner sanctum.
As the standoff escalated, the police took away Ms Desai and other protesters away from the temple premises.
Members of Bhumata Ranragini Brigade led by Ms Desai alleged that women villagers pushed them and tried to block their way as they tried to enter the inner sanctum of the temple, which according to tradition is forbidden for women.
Activist Desai, who had pledged to pray at the famous temple in the state’s Ahmednagar district, said: “We are not going to turn around we have the court order and if need be we will file an FIR (first information report) against the home minister and chief minister.”
“What is the police doing? They were directed to provide protection to us by the court,” Ms Desai said questioning the state government.
More details and video here
Going to look up “Shani”, I instead found irony:
If Lord Shani doesn’t want women in his temple, why doesn’t he himself prevent their entry? Why do mere humans have to block these women?