Good news for activists working for a gender equitable world.
In a landmark judgment, the Bombay High Court on Friday allowed women to enter inside the sanctum of the Haji Ali dargah.
A division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere said the ban order by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust contravenes Article 14 (equality before law within India), 15 (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, caste, sex), 19 (1)(d) (to move freely throughout the territory of India) and 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propogation of religion) of the Indian Constitution.
Zakia Soman the co founder of the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, who was the petitioner in this case said:
We are overwhelmed. We are planning for a party. The verdict has shown the strength of our democracy. This verdict will go a long way in challenging hegemony of patriarchal forces that operate in our society.
Any improvement in status of women inside or outside religion is a step forward.
And when some woman is murdered for this, will the authorities do anything about it?
Are you arguing that the court should not have ruled as it did? The implication of such an argument is that there should not be resistance to men’s unfair and unequal status and power for fear of men’s violence.
Well said. Actually I had missed seeing the first comment.