In a landmark ruling the Bombay High Court has allowed women to enter and pray inside the famous Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai.

AFP

The court hearing a public interest litigation which urged lifting restriction on women inside the inner sanctum held that it is in contravention of Articles 14 (Right to Life), 15 (Prohibition of discrimination) and 25 (Right to practice religion) of the Constitution of India.

The ban of entry to women into the shrine which houses the mazaar was imposed somewhere between March and June 2012 by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust.

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The trust which has already said that it will challenge the order in the Supreme Court had defended the ban saying entry of women in close proximity to the tomb of a male saint is grievous sin in Islam.

They claimed that the intermingling “disturbs men mentally and women are disturbed physically.”

According to a report in Firtpost, these are the arguments the trust raised in the court.

Women wearing blouses with wide necks bend on the mazaar thus showing their breasts

Safety and security of women. The trust members further, under the guise of ensuring safety of women from sexual harassment, cited complaints they had received from women, of belongings being stolen and of eve-teasing, and hence rationalised the ban.

Earlier they were not aware of the provisions of the Shariat, hence the trust members saw the ban as more of an amendment.

“There is no discrimination but only females are not allowed to touch the tomb of male saint. The Quran is very clear on that,” Shoaib Memon lawyer representing the Haji Ali Trust told the Bombay High Court.