Haji Ali Mosque to allow women in the shrine
The trust that runs Mumbai’s Haji Ali Mosque told the Supreme Court that it will abolish the ban on women entering the shrine.
The high court said that ban violated the constitution and was discriminatory towards women. The ban was imposed by trust saying it was a sin to allow women to touch the tombs of a male saint.
Zakia Soman, an activist of the right group Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), challenged the ban on women entering the shrine in the court.
She said, “We are grateful the courts are standing by us in our fight against the patriarchal attitudes of men running religious shrines.”
Many Islamic mosques belonging to the Shia and Sunni sects also allow women inside, though many keep them in clearly demarcated areas.
Recently India has witnessed a number of campaigns to allow women into religious shrines, be it mosque or temple. Both Hindu and Muslim activists have dragged patriarchal managements of shrines to courts all across the nation.