Haji Ali dargah to give complete access to women

In a victory for women’s rights, Mumbai’s Haji Ali Dargah Trust on Monday informed the Supreme Court that it will allow entry of women inside the inner sanctum sanctorum on par with men.

Taking a note of a resolution passed to this effect by the trust, a three-judge Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao disposed of an appeal filed by the trust against a Bombay high court order directing entry of women inside the sanctum sanctorum.

Senior counsel Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the trust, told the court that in a month’s time women will be allowed till its inner sanctum sanctorum.

“We have already passed a resolution on October 11 to this effect and need two weeks time to implement it. Some flooring has to be done and we also need to remove some obstructions like wooden windows and treasury boxes which are on a separate path being made for women. Over all in a month’s time women will be allowed in,” he said.

The resolution said that the trust believes in complete equality of men and women as envisaged in Islam and to give effect to the said principle of equality, have decided that both men and women shall be allowed to enter the room which houses the sanctum sanctorum of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari right up to the sanctorum. However, neither men nor women shall be allowed to touch the dargah. Counsel said that the trust had decided to scrap a 2012 order that said it was a grievous sin to let women enter the mosque.

On August 26, the HC lifted a ban imposed on women from entering the inner sanctum of the dargah. Noorjehan Fiaz and Zakia Soman, founders of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, had petitioned the Bombay HC against the ban, calling it unconstitutional.

The high court had held that the ban imposed by the Dargah Trust, prohibiting women from entering the sanctum sanctorum of the Haji Ali Dargah, contravened Articles 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution and said women should be permitted to enter the sanctum sanctorum like men. It had held that the trust had no power to alter or modify the mode or manner of religious practices of any individual or any group.

In its appeal the trust contended that the ban was in keeping with an order of the Supreme Court wherein stringent directions have been issued to ensure that there is no sexual harassment to women at places of worship. The trust prayed for quashing the HC verdict and to stay the judgment till the disposal of the SLP.