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November 17, 2014

India: PIL over ban on women in Haji Ali inner sanctum

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/PIL-over-ban-on-women-in-Haji-Ali-inner-sanctum/articleshow/45162489.cms

PIL over ban on women in Haji Ali inner sanctum
> Rosy Sequeira,TNN | Nov 16, 2014, 12.00 AM IST
>
> Mumbai: The Muslim community will become all the more regressive, says
> a public interest litigation filed in the Bombay high court
> challenging the ban on women entering the inner sanctum of Haji Ali
> Dargah, which houses the mazaar (tomb) of the saint and has millions
> of visitors every year. Currently, women are allowed only to the point
> from where they can see the tomb and offer prayers.
>
> The PIL is filed by activists Noorjehan Niaz and Zakia Soman of the
> Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, who experienced "first hand the
> restriction which was imposed somewhere between March 2011 and June
> 2012". They said right from their childhood they were allowed
> unimpeded access to the inner sanctum (mazaar) but now there is a
> barricade. A trustee in July 2012 told them the decision was taken for
> the safety and security of women and is based on Shariat provisions,
> which they began following no sooner they realized they were making a
> mistake.
>
> The petitioners, thereafter, conducted a survey which showed that 12
> out of 19 dargahs in Mumbai allowed women into the sanctum. They
> followed up with representations to the authorities, including women's
> commissions, the state minority commission and the charity
> commissioner, but in vain. In April 2014, they again visited the
> Dargah and "much to their dismay learnt that the debarment of women
> was still in force".
>
> Aggrieved, they moved HC against the "blatant discrimination on the
> ground of gender alone" saying it impinges on their fundamental rights
> and also "the failure of the state to eliminate inequalities".
>
> "Assuming Sharia says something which is contrary to the principles
> enshrined in the Constitution of India, it is the Constitution alone
> which, as the supreme law of the land, should prevail over
> contravening personal laws,'' the petition stated.
>
> The petition further stated gender justice is inherent in the Quran
> and the decision contravenes the Hadiths, which prove that there is no
> prohibition on women visiting graves. "The Holy Prophet never objected
> to women visiting the graves," it said and added, "such conduct is
> likely to cause damage to the society, the syncretic spirit which was
> expounded by the Sufi saints, and of course the Muslim community
> making it all the more regressive being an obstacle to progressive
> thinking."
>
> The petition said the restriction "emanates from a very conservative
> and extremist ideology" which is against women's freedom and equality.
> "If such arbitrary actions of the Trust are not restrained, it is not
> inconceivable that in the future there may be an order banning the
> entry of women in the Dargah complex and non-Muslims wholly," it
> added. Urging the HC "to declare that women devotees have an equal
> right of entry and access to all parts, including the inner sanctum
> (mazaar) of the Haji Ali Dargah on par with the male devotees," the
> petition has also sought an inquiry by the charity commissioner.
>