A controversy erupted at an event on Thursday organised to felicitate the chief minister, when a woman journalist was asked to not sit anywhere in the first three rows from the stage.
A controversy erupted at an event on Thursday organised to felicitate the chief minister, when a woman journalist was asked to not sit anywhere in the first three rows from the stage.
Shri Santacruz Jain Tapagachh Sangh and other organisations had invited Devendra Fadnavis to felicitate him for bringing amendments banning slaughter of bulls and bullocks.
The journalist, Rashmi Puranik, had sat in the first row when she was asked to move elsewhere. "They told me to shift saying women can't sit in the first three rows. They should have communicated earlier that a woman journalist not be sent or not behaved like this. We had come to cover the CM's felicitation, not a religious event," said Puranik, protesting against the differentiation.
Defending itself, the sangh said it was only following the Swaminarayan sect rule. "Their sadhus can sit only if women are not sitting in the first three rows. The sect's sadhus had to wait for 20 minutes for the journalist to move," said Jignesh Shah, a working committee member of the sangh.
When asked why no board was put up or why the journalist wasn't informed, Shah said, "We requested her to move behind many times, even telling her that the sangh president's wife and daughters too are sitting behind."
Manager of the Swaminarayan hall, where the event took place, Natubhai Parmar said, "When the organisers came to invite our sadhu, he refused to come as they are required to stay away from women. But the organisers persisted and said they won't allow women to sit in the first three rows. That's when he agreed."
"From our side we had made it clear that women can't be present. We had even asked the DCP not to put women guards on duty for the CM or else our sadhu wouldn't be able to come," Parmar added.
BJP city president Ashish Shelar said the organisers were only following rules of the Swaminarayan. "We may look to create a law wherein such differentiation is not meted out," he said.
Fadnavis said women should be allowed to sit in the front row. "For any society to progress, women should not be differentiated with," he added.
A press statement issued later in the day, which was signed by Bacchubhai Shah of the sangh, said, "The Sabhagrah had informed us that separate sitting arrangement was made for women. An announcement on it was made too."
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