The Bhumata Brigade is a

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

-based social activist organization founded in 2010 in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, dedicated to fighting against injustice to women and against corruption. The organization's founder is Indian

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

activist

Trupti Desai Trupti Desai (born 1985) is an Indian social activist and the founder of the Bhumata Brigade & Bhumata Foundation, a Pune-based organization. Desai has campaigned for allowing women to religious places like the Shani Shingnapur Temple, the Ha ...

. The Bhumata Brigade is best known for their protests against the banning of women from worship at places of worship, including

Shani Shingnapur Shani Shingnapur or Shani Shinganapur or Shingnapur is a village in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated in Nevasa taluka in Ahmednagar district, the village is known for its popular temple of Shani, the Hindu god associated with the pla ...

temple in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, and the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai, Maharashtra. By 2016, the Bhumata Brigade reportedly had 4,000 members, including some men. A branch of the organization Bhumata Ranragani Brigade, focuses on women's causes, including the Shani temple protests. They are also sought out for assistance by victims of

eve teasing Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

, dowry issues, and physical or sexual assault. Other protests include: high prices of onions and other vegetables; exploitation of farmers and farmer suicides; the rape of a child in Mumbai; the Lokpal bill agitations with

Anna Hazare Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising an ...

; and more. Bhumata Brigade is not aligned with any political parties in India. Desai has stood for election.

References

{{reflist Organisations based in Pune Women's organisations based in India Organizations established in 2010 2010 establishments in Maharashtra

See also

References