Women Enter Haji Ali Dargah After Nearly 5 Yrs

In a big win for gender equality, around 80 women activists from all over India visited the Haji Ali Dargah at 3 pm today.

"It will be routine now, we have not informed the police or the dargah trust. We shall pay our respects and come out," Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) co-founder Noorjehan S Niaz told IANS.

Mumbai: Women activists entered the Haji Ali Dargah today, after a series of legal battles. pic.twitter.com/Ot1w7ouGO0

— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2016

On October 24 this year, after many legal battles and agitations, the Supreme Court ruled that men and women will be allowed equal access to the sanctum sanctorum. Women could enter the sanctum sanctorum until they were banned in 2012. Following this, women from all over India had petitioned the court to lift the ban.

The trust had told the court that it will make the requisite preparations to facilitate women’s entry into the inner sanctum within four weeks.

A trustee of the dargah, Suhail Khandwani, said that there would be separate entries to the shrine for men and women and henceforth, nobody would be allowed to touch the peer’s tomb.

Twitter is awash with excitement over the decision. Here are some reactions.

https://twitter.com/rutumogali/status/803570283894312961

#RightToPray finally no discrimination in terms of gender in spirituality..Historical..#HajiAli

— Jayanta Chakravarty (@AbbJayanta) November 29, 2016

Great day for the inspirational Muslim women activists who fought against blatant gender discrimination #RightToPray https://t.co/9oZ7m48qNq

— Trisha Shetty (@TrishaBShetty) November 29, 2016

Let's hope that this win leads the way for many others.

Also Read: Eight Temples in India that bar entry of women