Gender Equality Activist Trupti Desai Gets Detained On Her Way To Shirdi Temple

Gender quality activist Trupti Desai got detained by police along with the members of her organisation at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. Desai was on her way to remove boards put up outside the Saibaba temple in Shirdi asking devotees to dress in a "civilised" manner.

On December 3, Desai had objected to the temple's appeal asking devotees to dress in a "civilised manner". She had said that if the boards carrying that message were not removed, she would herself go to Shirdi and take them down on December 10. Desai had pointed out that the priests also worship god half-unclothed and devotees do not find it uncivilised.

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To this effect, Govind Shinde, the sub-divisional magistrate of Shirdi area issued her a notice asking Desai not to enter Shirdi from December 8 midnight to December 11 midnight.

Regardless of the notice, the Bhumata Brigade president, Trupti Desai started her journey from Pune to Shirdi with 20 other activists to remove the boards outside Shirdi Temple.

"We detained Desai along with 15 to 16 members of the outfit near Supa village on Pune-Ahmednagar highway under section 68 of the Bombay Police Act," Ahmednagar Superintendent of Police Manoj Patil said.

The temple had issued the notice to devotees entering the temple premises because some devotees arrived in "distracting" clothes. Shirdi temple trust CEO Kanhuraj Bagate justified it by saying that the trust is only requesting the devotees to come in "decent" clothes and there are no rules being imposed regarding dress code.

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Who is Trupti Desai

Trupti Desai is the president of Bhumata Brigade which works towards gender equality. In the past, Desai has been vocal about the discrimination against women in places of worship. She has demonstrated protests against Haji Ali Dargah, Sabarimala and Shani Shignapur temple alleging that these places have a different set of rules for female devotees. This is not the first time the activist has been detained while she was on her way to protest at a place of worship. Read more about the activist here.

Image Credit: The Hindu