Petition says restrictions against women to enter sanctum sanctorum of churches, dargahs, and agiaries
The Sabarimala ruling of the Supreme Court has prompted many litigants to demand similar rights for women facing restrictions to enter the sanctum sanctorum of mosques, churches and Parsi temples.
A petition in the Delhi High Court recently questioned the practices followed by the Parsis to restrict entry of Parsi women into the fire temple, restriction on Muslim women's entry into the inner well of dargahs, and the Christian women being denied entry into the sanctum sanctorum of churches.
The petition by social activist Sanjjiv Kkumar has created a flutter as the heads of the Delhi Parsi Anjuman, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Delhi, the Delhi Orthodox Centre, and the Jama Masjid represented through their lawyers appeared on April 11 before the HC in response to its notices.
The religious heads claimed that the traditional practices cannot be challenged in a writ petition by a rank outsider as these are matters of faith and religious practices. Now the court has fixed the petition for hearing on August 26 asking the religious heads to file their objections to be considered on that day.
This petition has been clubbed with another petition moved in the HC by three law students – Deeba Faryal, Shivangi Kumari, and Anukriti Sugam. They claimed to have visited the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi where they were greeted by a signboard restricting women from entering the sanctum sanctorum. They have demanded women be allowed access to the sanctum sanctorum of the Dargah, which can be accessed only by Muslim men.
Recently, the Supreme Court too got a taste of its Sabarimala verdict of September 28, 2018, when a Muslim couple from Pune cited the verdict to demand mixed congregation of men and women to offer prayers in mosques and Idgahs. A bench of Justices SA Bobde and S Abdul Nazeer issued a notice on the petition by Zuber Ahmad Nazir Ahmad Peerzade and his wife Yasmeen and sought responses from the Centre, Maharashtra State Board of Wakfs, National Commission for Women, Central Wakf Council, and All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
According to the petition filed by Kkumar in Delhi HC, gender cannot be a ground to discriminate against women of any religion from offering prayers. His petition said that such barriers on women have no divine sanction and following the Sabarimala verdict, even the Supreme Court has held such practices violating gender equality to be based on a "patriarchal mindset".
The petition cites examples of women bishops and priests in Protestant churches outside India and talks of mixed-gender Muslim congregations in Canada and United Kingdom where women lead the Friday prayers and even deliver the sermon (khutbaa).
‘DISCRIMINATORY’
- Petition says restrictions against women to enter sanctum sanctorum of churches, dargahs, and agiaries
- It says the practices have no divine sanction. It cites Sabarimala ruling to justify its demands
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