A short film titled “The Angry Goddesses”, produced by Blush Originals and uploaded on YouTube recently, documents a significant chapter in the history of Indian feminism.
The film briefly tells us about the battles of the Bhumata Brigade, an association of women who believe in militantly fighting for women’s rights in Maharashtra. The Brigade, headed by Trupti Desai, takes on gender-based issues such as sexual violence and denial of entry into places of worship for women.
Against the backdrop of songs that sound like bhajans, you see the women – Trupti included – riding scooters and heading off to wherever the day’s battle begins.
The Bhumata Brigade shot into fame with its campaign for the right to worship at the Shani Shingnapur temple. Women were not allowed to enter the temple’s sanctum sanctorum, but the Bombay High Court had ruled that women could not be barred from gaining entry into the temple.
Just one fact mars this otherwise energetic film: the filmmakers have wrongly projected the Haji Ali campaign to the Bhumata Brigade.
In an introduction to the video, Blush Originals says: “Bhumata Brigade are the unsung heroes behind the landmark decision by the Bombay HC that has allowed women to worship inside the inner sanctum of Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai.”
However, it was Noorjehan Safia and Zakia Soman of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) who filed the PIL in the Bombay High Court, which resulted in the court upholding women’s right to go up to the mazaar at Haji Ali.
Trupti Desai and the Bhumata Brigade have supported the BMMA and expressed solidarity with the movement to allow women entry to the mazaar. The Brigade has also protested at Haji Ali, and urged the Haji Ali Dargah Trust to allow women to enter the mazaar.
Similarly, the BMMA too had extended its support to the Bhumata Brigade over its fight for the right to worship at the Shani Shingnapur temple.