Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
The Bombay High Court's ruling on the entry of women into Haji Ali Dargah has reinforced the status of equality of women in religion.
The Bombay High Court’s ruling on the entry of women into Haji Ali Dargah reinforces the need for equality of women in religion.
The Bombay High Court recently passed a judgment allowing women to enter the sanctum of the Haji Ali Dargah. According to a division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere, the ban imposed by the Haji Ali Dargah Trust was in violation of Articles 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 propagation of religion) of the Indian Constitution. The trust sought to appeal against this decision, and the bench granted a stay on their order for six weeks.
Some background for the uninitiated: the case that brought this to fore was a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Noor Jahan of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, about two years ago. According to the PIL, women have been visitors of the Dargah since their childhood, and were restricted all of a sudden by the trust in June 2012.
According to the trustees, the defence claim was that the entry of women in a space that was close to the grave of a male Muslim saint was a grievous sin in Islam. They argued that this decision was taken in the interest of women, and that they were allowed as close as possible to the inner sanctorum.
Zooming out, this case shines light on the rampancy of gender inequality, constantly perpetuated by rigid cultural interpretations of religion. Oftentimes, this tends to dovetail into the question of a woman’s sovereignty over her mind, body and choices. Religion inherently does not restrain a woman, but has, in its interpretation, often interfered with a woman’s choices, her right over her mind and body and her conduct in society.
In prohibiting women from entering the Dargah, the trust has not upheld any tenet of religion inasmuch as it has used religion to perpetuate gender inequality. The patriarchal perception of religion, and the perpetuation of toxic hegemonic masculinity by reading misogyny into a religion suggests that there is an imminent need for women to take back the religious space, and to feminise the rhetoric.
From that standpoint, the drive for equality having motivated a public interest litigation to require the judiciary’s interference in a religious establishment automatically gains validity and legitimacy. A social set up that pivots around the notions of equality and the rule of law requires that all genders be equal partakers of the social order, have access to all areas of life and livelihood without restraint on the grounds of Gender, as per Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
In upholding these values in the Constitution, the Bombay High Court has restored a skewed and patriarchal perspective that interpreted religion, to a balance of equal status.
Image Source: Youtube
read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Who are these people who decide how a married woman should pose? Women do have a life and career outside their marriages!
Last week, a picture kept popping up on my FB feed, of a man and a woman standing close. I didn’t pay much attention, they looked like any other celebrity couple.
It was when I accidentally saw a derogatory term about the woman as the title of a post, that I read.
The woman in the pic was Dhanashree Verma, a Youtuber, choreographer, Jhalak Dikhla Ja participant and wife of cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal. The man was another choreographer, Pratik Utekar.
The pursuit of true happiness and owning your true identity - things that probably are most important for humans. Laapataa Ladies has it all.
This well written satire goes as deep inside as it seems on the surface. While uncovering the deep-rooted traditions and superstitions of traditional India on the face of it, this story of lost women is actually also a story of finding oneself. Not only for the “lost ladies” but for a lot of other characters of the movie.
Be it by getting reminded of the childhood self, or of the dreams seen as a child or via learning & unlearning, or even questioning some of the self-beliefs when shown the mirror, or tapping on the hidden goodness, each major character of the film ends up finding self.
Well what can be a bigger accomplishment than this. A very powerful and intelligently written story showing the world that the dark and the bright stays together, it co exists.
Please enter your email address