Venkaiah disagrees with Shankaracharya Swaroopanand's remark on women in Shani Shingnapur temple

New Delhi: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said that he disagreed with Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati’s comments that the entry of women in Shani Shingnapur temple will lead to rise in crimes like rape. “Politely disagree with the views expressed by Swami Swaroopananda ji about women’s entry in Shani Shingnapur temple will bring ill luck to them and give rise to crimes against them; and attributing drought situation in Maharashtra to Shirdi Saibaba worship,” Naidu said on Twitter.

Politely disagree wid d views expressed by Swami Swaroopananda Ji abt women's entry in Shani Shingnapur temple will brng ill luck 2 them 1/2

— M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) April 12, 2016

On Sunday, the Shankaracharya had waded into a controversy by saying that entry of women in the Shani Shingnapur temple will lead to rise in crimes against them like rape. “Women should not feel triumphant about visiting the sanctum sanctorum of Shani Shinganapur temple in Maharashtra. They should stop all the drum beating about what they have done. Worshipping Shani will bring ill luck to them and give rise to crimes against them like rape,” he had told reporters in Haridwar on Sunday. Swaroopanand also kicked up a controversy when he said that the prevailing practice of worshipping Sai Baba in the temples of Maharashtra was responsible for the drought in the state. A 400-year-old ban on entry of women into the shrine’s core area was lifted by the temple trust last week following advocacy group Bhoomata Brigade’s agitation against gender bias and the Bombay High Court order upholding women’s equal rights to worship.