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Bombay High Court asks Haji Ali Dargah row petitioners to prove gender bias

Two women, who have filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court, challenging the ban on entry to women to the mazaar in the Haji Ali Dargah, have put a number of questions before the court — Should women be allowed in the inner sanctum of a dargah as a matter of their legal right? Is visiting the dargah an essential and integral part of the religion? Can a high court interfere in the daily affairs of a dargah or must limit itself to secular matters?

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Two women, who have filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay High Court, challenging the ban on entry to women to the mazaar in the Haji Ali Dargah, have put a number of questions before the court — Should women be allowed in the inner sanctum of a dargah as a matter of their legal right? Is visiting the dargah an essential and integral part of the religion? Can a high court interfere in the daily affairs of a dargah or must limit itself to secular matters?

The court, however, said it will only hear their PIL if they (the women) are able to satisfy it that a gender bias is being practised by imposing the restriction, which was not there till 2012, and that the court has the jurisdiction to regulate them (the dargahs).

The trust managing the dargah has opposed the PIL on the ground that it is protecting women from uncomfortable situations.

The PIL, filed by Noorjehan Niaz, states gender justice is inherent in the Quran and the decision contravenes the Hadiths, which prove that there is no prohibition on women visiting graves.

It further states that restriction "emanates from a very conservative and extremist Salafi 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 entry to women in the entire dargah complex," Niaz said.

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